This is the sort of film that’s more fun for the cast and crew than the audience. The premise: What if the characters from The Hangover and its sequels suddenly found themselves competing in The Hunger Games against their counterparts from various other film genres? It’s predictably dumb and obscene but better than the third Hangover film, not that this is saying much. A couple of the actors who stand in for the Hangover stars are virtual Doppelgängers for the originals.
The opponents they’re forced to battle include imitation Muppets, an oversized and anatomically correct (except for the fuzziness) version of the teddy bear from Ted, reality-show housewives, topless soft-pore corn actresses, Django, “Gay Thor,” and several characters originally played by Johnny Depp. Katnip from the Hunger Games is here as well, played by the highly appealing Rita Volk, who deserves better roles.
The cast also features some moderately familiar if not A-list stars including Jamie Kennedy (in three roles), Tara Reid, and Bruce Jenner. The reality-show housewives are played by actual alumnae of The Real Housewives of Beverley Hills, including Kelsey Grammer’s ex-wife Camille.
Caitly Wachs, who plays a parody of Stephen King’s Carrie, was apparently a hit with the rest of the cast for her willingness to spend days covered in uncomfortable fake blood while remaining sweet and good humored except when on camera, when she was abruptly terrifyingly scary until the director called cut, whereupon she was again instantly pleasant and cheerful. I know this only because I sat through the brief making-of documentary accompanying the film, mainly to see more of Rita Volk.
I have a fairly high tolerance for dumb parodies, so I derived some amusement if not a lot of laughs from this, but I don’t really recommend it unless you’re feeling blah and don’t want to watch something that’s actually good for fear you won’t appreciate it.
Warning: The trailer is way better than the movie.
Link: https://youtu.be/-zwtZgV3_hQ
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