The Hangover Analysis

Content
The certificate of this film is a 15 therefore it is only suitable for people over the age of 15. This, like superbad is due to the language in the film. As well of this violence is used a lot in the film and although it is done in a comical way young children may be heavily influenced by it, even more so that it makes people laugh as they may think they’re being funny.
Structure
The Hangover follows the non-linear narrative as the beginning of the film is a scene that is later repeated at the end of the film. The fact that the end scene is played at the beginning influences the audience to think that the film ends in a different way therefore although viewers think they have seen the end if the film the end result will actually be a complete surprise to them. This is a different structure to most of the films I have analysed and is a structure I may look at using myself. There is no voice over or flashbacks used in the film.
Codes and conventions
There are a lot of jokes used in the film to make viewers laugh and make it obvious it’s a comedy. The characters in the film are all completely different to each other making them all funny in their own way. Like Superbad friendship has an extremely important part of this film. Mike Tyson stars in the hangover which will bring in a pre determined audience of Mike Tyson fans.
The scene I have chosen to analyse is the scene where all the friends have just got ready and are making their way out. The characters make their way to the top of the roof to have a drink before heading out. All the characters are dressed smart apart from Alan who is wearing casual clothes for a night out, this is funny as Alan is quite a comical character. The lighting is dark showing it is night time however there are many lights in the background showing the clubs and bars that are open and making it clear that the group of friends are in Vegas. A song is played while the friends make a toast, the song is very much a party song which shows the audience the friends are going out for the night.
Themes
This film, very much like superbad is an obvious comedy. The situations in the film are so unrealistic and even though characters appear to be concerned at first when something bad happens, they shortly forget it. Many people can relate to the hangover, as if sure young people have gone out, woken up the next morning and couldn’t remember anything about the night before. The hangover just takes this to another level making it an extreme version of a typical persons night out.

Development over time
This is a modern film that young people can relate to. I think this film will only be popular with this generation as previous generations wouldn’t have really experienced nights out anywhere near as close to this.