Well, I'm kind of weird about The Hangover movies. I liked the second one better than the first and I'm also quite fond of this movie, while it seems that I'm a minority on this.

Guess that one of the main reason why this movie isn't as liked as much is because it isn't following the usual 'Hangover-formula'. So no waking up at a weird place, with weird things and animals surrounding our main heroes, while they remember absolutely nothing about what happened the previous night and try to piece things together, as the story moves along. I don't mind this formula and would have been happy to seen it used in this movie as well but at the same time I can also understand why they tried to do something different, this time around. There is of course a great danger that this movie would be nothing more but a rehash of the previous two movies, once it started using the same sort of formula. This was actually something that already started to bother a lot of people, when the second movie of the trilogy came out.

I kind of agree that this movie doesn't really feel like a part of a trilogy but it's still definitely a sequel, in the sense that it's a continuation of the stories of its main characters. The approach to the story is somewhat different but all of the characters and the humor are still definitely the same. No big surprise, since all 3 movies are done by basically the same cast & crew. Director Todd Phillips directed all three movies and I have always kind of liked his comedy and directing approach. He often picks some very formulaic and simplistic sounding comedy concept but always manages to turn it into something special and unexpected. It's also therefore why his comedies are often better and more effective ones to watch than the usual genre attempts, done by different people. It's therefore also absolutely ludicrous to call this movie a bad one, in my opinion. I can understand it being your least favorite one out of the whole trilogy but please don't mistake it for a bad movie as well!

Thing that it all eventually comes down to, is that I was simply entertained by this movie, all throughout It isn't necessarily saying anything about its quality or originality but it is saying something about its effectiveness. As a comedy this movie definitely serves its purpose and it serves it well! Some of the situations made me laugh, some of its dialog made me laugh, most characters made me laugh, so that all makes this a pretty effective comedy in my book!

Of course it's definitely not without its flaws or weaknesses. After all, this is also my least favorite Hangover movie out of the trilogy, so I still had plenty of problems with it as well. The story and comedy doesn't always feel like it's the best or cleverest thing ever and the movie and there's a bit of overkill in the movie. Sometimes less is more and sometimes some things are just funnier and better in smaller doses. This for instance goes for the Chow character. He plays a pretty big role in this movie but he's definitely better, funnier and more tolerable when he shows up for just a couple of minutes, as he for instance did in the first movie.

I also can't really say that this movie feels like closure. There is nothing about this movie that indicates that this could possibly be the last Hanogover movie. It's of course possible that we'll indeed get to see more Hangover movies in the future but the problem is that this movie loves to advertise itself as the end of the trilogy, like it's bringing closure and it's being the ultimate finale. None of that is true really but it's not really something that I'm holding against the movie. It's wrong advertising but you can't blame the movie itself for this.

Simply enjoy it for what it is; a good, quality, comedy. Don't expect the ultimate Hangover movie or one that plays by the exact same 'rules' as the previous two movie.

7/10

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This time, there's no wedding. No bachelor party. What could go wrong, right? But when the Wolfpack hits the road, all bets are off. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Todd Phillips

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and others

Current release date: May 23, 2013

It's hard to compare this movie to anything else and that's probably why it's also getting some mixed reviews. Most people don't really know how to take this movie or perhaps were expecting something totally different from it.

In my opinion the movie is a fine one. It gets some of its points across in a creative and engaging enough way, while at the same time it also still fails miserably with getting some of its other points across. Sometimes, especially toward the end, the movie is really overdoing things and it's laying things on too thick and too obvious. I was liking the movie better at the moments that it was being a tad bit more subtle with all of its themes.

It's one of those movies that's trying to make a statement about capitalism and how big cooperations have taken over the world, how advertising and branding affects us in our everyday lives, without us really realizing it and how the way we look at ourselves and the world gets influenced by television programs and commercials. Even though it all gets heavily exaggerated, the movie in essence is still right of course. And the movie isn't brining it in a serious or dramatic way but instead is being entertaining and creative with it. That's why the movie worked as an interesting and entertaining one, though it does in fact pushes its luck a bit.

Its 'weirdness' is definitely going to scare off a whole bunch of people but even the most hardened movie goer, that's somewhat used to creative and unique movies, shall most likely still have some issues with this movie. Once the movie starts going over-the-top with stuff, it's hard to take the movie and any of its messages seriously really. And that's a real shame, since I truly feel that up to a certain point this movie does a great job at exposing and dissecting certain issues, involving capitalism. There was no need for the movie to do some of the things it did and it actually made this movie a lesser effective one.

I still have to admit I liked this movie more than I didn't. This had everything to do with the futuristic and surreal tone and atmosphere of the movie and I only do still wish the movie handled its story and themes just as well at times.

6/10

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(Review originally written at 9 August 2006)

I remember when this movie first trailers came around. It looked like a fun movie but above all also a fast paced one with lots of action and thriller elements. However very little of this can be seen back into this movie. A really wasted opportunity, for it's premise was a good one and a rather interestingly original one as well.

Maybe I expected too much, since Kevin Williamson, the man behind the Scream movies was at the helm of this movie. The movie turned out to be not quite good or tense enough for a thriller and too serious and weak for a fun comedy. Therefor I can't help regarding "Teaching Mrs. Tingle" as a failed movie, that misses its target.

They could had done so much interesting with this movie its story but basically rarely anything tense or remarkable occurs. Mrs. Tingle spends about three quarters of the movie lying tied on bed. They could have let here character manipulate all of the students in a slick and bitchy way, to set them up against each other. The movie does this but it really doesn't go far enough in this. The movie remains pretty shallow because of this and it lacks some good tension and creativity. Not that it's boring but it isn't terrible interesting either.

It's also a waste of Helen Mirren's talent. This is not a role we see her often in. She does provide the movie with some really excellent moments but the script offers her little really interesting to do.

Nothing wrong with the rest of the cast either really. Katie Holmes really isn't bad in it and so isn't Barry Watson, who I think they tried to launch as the new Johnny Depp, who also started his career in a movie with a similar style as this one; "A Nightmare on Elm Street" but he never made it and he already is a forgotten actor. Jeffrey Tambor plays a fun role and so does Molly Ringwald, who's role is obviously referring to her image of queen of high-school movies.

The movie could had really used some more pace, action and tension. It now instead is a rather shallow movie in which too little (interesting) is happening. It still is a somewhat fun movie to watch and obviously not one to take very serious but it all isn't quite enough to make this movie stand out.

5/10

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(Review originally written at 26 July 2006)

Fans of SpongeBob and its special humor will certainly enjoy this movie, although it's not as good as the television show. But at least the story is bigger and more adventurous than an average SpongeBob episode.

The movie, the story and its humor mostly relies on its randomness. The randomness works good and fun in the television series but its not quite good enough to fill an entire movie with, even though the movie is only 90 minutes short. It falls flat, especially toward the ending, that is disappointingly simple and ridicules. No big finale, just a simple conclusion.

Many new but also many pointless characters are introduced. King Neptune has become a different character from the show and is this time voiced by Jeffrey Tambor. The Mindy character (Scarlett Johansson) is a pointless one. She could had worked in the movie and its story if she perhaps had been someone's love interest (Patrick's). Probably the only good new character is the assassin Dennis (Alec Baldwin). He is a cool and dangerous character.

Luckily the fun main characters are also present. SpongeBob and Patrick form a great stupid comical duo and Mr. Krabs and Squidward are also present but unfortunately a bit underused in the movie, especially Squidward, who always is such a fun, grumpy and dry character to watch in the television show.

You would normally expect from a featured animated movie to be better and more detailed than its television show. There however is hardly any difference notable in terms of style and quality of the animations. Only thing that looks better is the life action. But of course when you have David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff as a character, you can't get any better life action, except when you have Chuck Norris maybe. Not sure if the pirates were completely necessary, they made a pointless and unfunny impression on me.

This movie will probably divide the fans of the television show into two groups. One group will love this movie for its fun, simple adventurous movie and others will find it disappointing that the typical SpongeBob humor doesn't work out quite as well as in the television show. I personally am somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed watching the movie but also have to admit that watching the television show is more fun and overall better to watch.

7/10

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