The Hangover: Part III no match for the original

THE mega-popular comedy franchise The Hangover is still hungover.

THE mega-popular comedy franchise The Hangover is still hungover.

Drunk on the blockbuster success of the first instalment in 2009, the team re-convened for Part II in Thailand a few years later.

There was just one problem. Someone forgot to pack the truly funny stuff.

Now comes The Hangover: Part III, a reputed trilogy-closing effort that sees the celebrated Wolfpack back on their home turf.

The film assembles a modest collection of laugh-out-loud moments. However, once again, the high standard of lowbrow laughs achieved by the first Hangover just cannot be matched.

More than ever before, this instalment is powered primarily by the franchise's two breakout characters, the bearded weirdo Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and the mercurial gangster Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong).

As the story begins, Alan is off his meds and on his way to a psych facility, after an intervention conducted by fellow Wolfpackers Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms).

However, the group never make it to their intended destination, and soon find themselves in Mexico and in big trouble.

Of course, Mr. Chow is the cause of much of the turmoil, escaping from a prison in Bangkok and then making off with the gold reserves of a powerful crime lord.

So unless Alan, Stu and Phil locate Chow and retrieve the missing gold, that other guy they always hang around with (Doug, played by Justin Bartha) will be executed.

Somewhat predictably, all roads navigated by the plot are destined to wind up once more in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, there will be no Mike Tyson, a wild tiger on the loose or a baby in danger to save proceedings from retreating deep inside the average zone.

Even the supposedly outrageous and provocative scenes feel all too comfortable (or is that lazy?) in their desire to offend.

Anyone who expected the series to end with a bang will be disappointed by the wispy whimper coming their way.

Only those happy enough to settle for more of the same - minus the free-wheeling unpredictability and absurdity that once defined the Hangover universe - will stagger away vaguely satisfied.

The Hangover Part III opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday.