Genre crossing: Third 'Hangover' more action, less laughs

By Richard Roeper

SPOILER ALERT!    

I have to tell you about some of the things that happen in The Hangover Part III to tell you what I think about The Hangover Part III, so if you don't want to know anything other than the title, go away. (But please come back after you've seen the film.)    

There's no hangover in The Hangover Part III, which isn't quite as strange as there being no weapons in Lethal Weapon 3 or no toys in Toy Story 3—but it's quite unexpected nonetheless, especially since The Hangover Part II was such a blatant copy of the original mega-hit about a bunch of guys who wake up with the world's worst collective hangover and have to piece together just what the hell happened the night before.    

The Hangover Part II was one of the lazier sequels of all time. They just moved the locale from Las Vegas to Bangkok and repeated most of the gags from the original. Even the characters kept saying they couldn't believe it was happening all over again.    

No danger of that happening in The Hangover Part III. Perhaps responding to criticism of the sequel or perhaps just wanting to challenge himself, director Todd Phillips has delivered a film so different from the first two, one could even ask if this is supposed to be a comedy.    

I'm not saying it's an unfunny comedy wannabe; I'm saying it plays more like a straightforward, real-world thriller with a few laughs than a hard-R slapstick farce. Audio review.