The one with the mini movie review – The Hangover

With a trailer that had everything from tigers, chickens and Mike Tyson singing Phil Collins, The Hangover has finally arrived.

Starring the likes of Bradley Cooper (Nip Tuck and has now been announced as the new “Face” in the A-Team flick) and directed by Todd Phillips who's previous work included the likes of Road Trip and Old School, the story of The Hangover is very simple and probably all too realistic. 4 friends go to Vegas on a stag and the guy getting married gets lost. Only problem with that is, no-one can remember the night before or indeed where Doug is. Their suite in the hotel is trashed, and to make matters worse, a tiger now resides in their bathroom. From there, they try and piece together the previous night. This involves everything from a baby locked in a closet to a stolen police car to an incredibly camp Chinese mobster.

The Hangover is a little dark at times, but there are plenty of laughs along the way. Granted you wont be spitting out your popcorn, but you’ll be giggling away none the less with the very occasional laugh out loud moment. At times it can be quite sluggish and slow and takes a bit to get going, and when it eventually does get going, it trundles along in low gear. Nothing too drastic mind, but enough for it to be noticeable.

The one glaring criticism I would have is that “the night” that all the madness happened, isn't really here. Instead all you get are a few glimpses of the shenanigans via CCTV footage. Which in my opinion, is all well and good, but the movie would have been far better if the night of madness was included. As the bits you do see are absolutely hilarious, in particular one scene involving the stolen police car and the tiger! Besides that, the scrapes they get into are funny enough and are held together with some great pieces of dialogue.

All the cast are quite good and convincing and are very watchable. Special mention goes to Mike Tyson who has a wonderful, lengthy cameo. Its cleverly written and well shot and of course it is a glowing endorsement for Vegas, not that it needed one anyway.

Overall the hangover wont leave you with a pain in your head, but if you want the big laugh out loud moments, then you will have to wait for the credits. I really feel that there is probably a 3 hour epic movie in this, and here’s hoping in the inevitable DVD / Blu-Ray, unrated, extended, directors cut release will deliver that. The Hangover is solid enough, but could have been so much more!  And at least you do learn that Tigers don't like cinnamon.

6.5/10