The Hangover Part III

The final (one hopes) instalment of the lucrative and initially hilarious franchise ends up in Las Vegas where the whole chaotic saga began. Here, the Wolfpack of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and manic man-child Zach Galifianakis are forced to find nutty Mr Chow (Ken Jeong) and a cache of stolen gold because, you guessed it, they've "lost" buddy Justin Bartha again and that's the price of his return. What's weird is that the technical side of the film - cinematography, production design, music - is so fantastic, you almost forget you're supposed to be laughing and not wallowing in the visuals. But with much of the running time devoted to plot and exposition, this disappointing blockbuster can only anticipate rather than offer any genuine comic moments - and that's a shame given a top-notch cast including John Goodman, Heather Graham and Melissa McCarthy. Helms's shtick and Jeong's timing still raise a smile in a technically stunning film, but as a comedy, it's a flop.