“The Hangover” is pure heterosexual male wish-fulfillment fantasy, with a rather offensive Chinese stereotype character with a poor command of English. However, the film is also very funny and does exceedingly well in maintaining a narrative drive whilst delivering punch lines.

Four men (the fiancé, the henpecked husband, the stoner and the smooth-talker) go to Las Vegas for a night to remember. Now, here is where the writers made an ingenious choice: they made the film into a mystery. The men woke up to a wrecked hotel room, found a tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, and lost their fiancé friend. This makes the film more engaging because we see characters develop rather than getting drunk and doing stupid things – and we know that doesn’t stay funny after a while. And because it’s a mystery, we want to find out how did they end up in all the mess they are in. This movie is a pretty good comedy, and a fun watch.

Rating: 7/10