The Hangover Part III

Expectations:
If there is one thing that I've heard too much of over the past couple of years, it's people complaining about The Hangover Part II. I'm sorry, but I don't understand how people could not like it! Those characters in those situations create absolute hilarity, regardless of how original the storyline is. In my opinion, raw, R-rated comedies, like The Hangover, are meant to do ONE THING... make you laugh. While watching The Hangover Part II, you may not have had a huge, life-changing moment, but I have a good feeling that you did laugh. Was Part II as good as the original? Absolutely not! But, nothing is!!!! People just need to learn how to be content. So, needless to say, while everyone else was hoping for a franchise turnaround with The Hangover Part III, I was just hoping for more of the same.

Plot:
Congratulations, folks! You got what you freakin wanted! In an attempt to appease the masses, Todd Phillips and company threw out everything from the past two films and started from scratch. If you don't want to see The Hangover Part III because you are worried about having to watch more of the same from the last two films, fret not. In what was meant to be "Allen's story," it turned out to be "the wolfpack chases Chow," and, with the focus on Allen, the laughs were sparing on the parts of Phil and Stu, which kind of sucked. In my opinion, the story would have been more interesting if they had just stuck with the same old wedding adventure from parts I and II, but, instead, they attempted to create something new and completely failed.

Characters:
If you've seen either of the first two films, you know that these characters are absolutely great, and I have a great amount of love for them all. However, in Part III, the characters were not given a chance to do their thing. Stu (Ed Helms) and Phil (Bradley Cooper) took a backseat to everything and really had no dog in the fight at all. After the success that Bradley Cooper has had over the past few years, I'm surprised that he agreed to do this film in which he barely matters but is always there. Of course Allen (Zach Galifianakis) was hilarious, but I think he is getting a little less funny at this point. Also, he changes a lot during the film, which does not fit the character that we have all grown to love.

Negatives:
After his small, hilarious turn in the first Hangover film, I think it is safe to say that Ken Jeong's Chow has been over-utilized at this point. I won't spoil anything, but Chow had too large of a role in a film that was supposed to be a swan song to the wolfpack. On top of that, what made him relevant was the addition of John Goodman's Marshall, who I didn't find the least bit intimidating or interesting. Finally, Mike Epps's "Black Doug" made a disappointing return in the film. Epps brought many laughs in the first film, but he was just too serious this time around.

Positives:
Maybe I'm already suffering from Office nostalgia, but I really thought Ed Helms did a great job of bringing the laughs in Part III. Without the crazy, wedding night "demons" that Stu had faced before, I was wondering if he was going to bore the audience in this film. But, when he was given a chance, I think he made me laugh more than anyone else, so kudos! The only other character that I really loved was Grant Holmquist's Tyler. Of course, the last time we saw Tyler, he had recently had his named changed from Carlos, which fits him better anyway. That scene with Holmquist and Heather Graham was quite impressive and probably the high point of the entire film for me.

Conclusion:
I was quite disappointed in how the wolfpack went out in The Hangover Part III. Not only was the story quite dull, but the laughs were few and far between. The Hangover began the craze of over-the-top, hardcore, raunchy comedies that have been coming our way for the past six years, and that's what made it so great. Unfortunately, there was a lack of raunchiness and laughter throughout this film. It was as if they were trying to end the trilogy on a serious note, and it just fell oh so short of succeeding. I'm pretty sure that everyone will say that the post-credits scene is their favorite, and that scene is the only real over-the-top, Hangover-esque scene in the entire film. If this film had come along before Part II, people would have begged Todd Phillips to return to his original formula that he used to create the first two films. To all of you who begged for something different, you got it! Now, as I go to my grave with disgust toward the final installment in The Hangover trilogy, I won't blame Todd Phillips or the cast. Instead, I will blame the millions who moaned and groaned about the second film. Because IT WAS FUNNY!!!! I give The Hangover Part III 2.11 out of 5 stars and apologize for this great rant.

Project X

Expectations:
Let's just get down to it....... My expectations for Project X were simple....... Best comedy of 2012! You might ask, "Why, Tanner?" Well, let me tell you why. It's as simple as looking at the picture right above this post. There is hardly anything funnier than people who wander around and do foolish and morally unacceptable acts. Am I right, or am I right? The trailer was hilarious and, with Todd Phillips producing, I got really really excited about Project X. So, as is with all movies I look forward to this much, it was obvious that I was either going to be extremely disappointed (see Green Lantern) or extremely pleased (see Super 8). Let's see what the results were...

Plot:
Well, there was this big party........... AND that was about it. The main character, Thomas (played by Thomas Mann), was sort of caught up in a plan to have himself a huge 17th birthday party. Thomas's biggest problem was the fact that the party was actually the masterful work of his friend Costa, played by Oliver Cooper. The party commenced, as did the foolish and morally unacceptable acts. As you might expect, there were many dirty jokes and many naked girls. The problem was that the dirty jokes were not THAT funny, and the party itself (as shown by the naked girls) was extremely extreme. The truth is that none of this could ever happen at a high school party. What made The Hangover funny was the fact that these real people were in these real, hilarious circumstances. With Project X, the lack of reality greatly took away from the film's potential, which upset me.

Best Scene: When everything starts catching on fire!

Characters:
While the plot wasn't very good, the characters were fantastic. Thomas was sort of shy and unpopular, which made the extreme party even more unrealistic. JB, played by Jonathan Daniel Brown, was a hilarious addition, as this super-awkward chubby kid, who was even worse off than Thomas. Costa was this rebellious, rough kid who, for some odd reason, hung out with these other two losers. The three friends (Thomas, Costa, and JB) were all great in their own way. The problem was that there was no true connection as to why they were together, which made the plot even more unrealistic. They had so much potential, but they just never fully got to that point where you said, "WOW! They're funny!".

Best Character: Everett and Tyler, played by Brady Hender and Nick Nervies, were the easy choices for best character(s). They were the security team for the huge party. However, they were like 7th graders, and they took their job so seriously. They were absolutely hilarious!

Worst Character: Kirby, played by Kirby Bliss Blanton, was the easy choice for worst character. She was the awkward love interest of Thomas, and her presence just sort of disgusted me. I couldn't take their relationship-thing seriously.

Conclusion:
Unfortunately, Project X finds itself on the disappointing side of the spectrum. I will say, however, that it is nowhere close to as bad as Green Lantern! It really isn't that bad at all, if you are looking for an absolutely random, dirty comedy, which I'm sure many of you are. I just think it could have been so much more, and, as I have said before, I hate when a great idea is not executed properly (see Bad Teacher). Maybe I just built the movie up too much heading in, but who knows. I certainly wouldn't discourage you from watching, but don't expect to be blown away. I give Project X 2.79 out of 5 stars...