Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.
The Truth
Tropic Thunder was barely entertaining and the laughs were predictable, old and mostly uninteresting. I found myself fast-forwarding most of the movie, trying to get past the bastardly silly talk I’ve come to detest in Ben Stiller movies.
What started out as a decent enough comedy, shortly turned into cliche after cliche, predictablility and childish humor I haven’t seen since The Kentucky Fried Movie. This may appeal to some, but I’ve grown a genuine dislike for recent Ben Stiller films, this one is the same.
I went into the film with an open mind, after all… Jack Black couldn’t be as lame as his previous films, could he? Yes, he could and was. His over-the-top character “Jeff Portnoy” was predictable and unoriginal, its the same old Jack Black screaming out his lines with his crazy eyebrows tilted up to the north star, screaming for originality that isn’t there.
The rest of the crew are decent enough, just not interesting to any real degree.
The Action
There’s action, not a ton of it. You are foced to endure uninteresting dialogue for most of the film, as if we care about the characters enough to give a damn.
The Laughs
If fart jokes, fart noises and all the silly little things in Zoolander made you laugh, I suppose Tropic Thunder will as well. I found it really tough to find the laughs, I guess I’ve seen these types of gags too many times .. it wears thin after the 300th time. Honestly though, the film is such a mockery of itself, I really didn’t find it funny at all.
You’ll Like It If
If you liked Zoolander, Tropic Thunder is probably right up your alley. If you like Zoolander, a lot of strange things are probably right up your alley.
Reminds me of
Anchorman. Yes, this film is really similar in gags and references to Anchorman. I saw a lot of similarity to Hot Shots! as well.
The Verdict
Rent it if its the only thing left in the store, you’ll find it by Walk Hard and Outpost. The movie stinks, its a neither funny nor entertaining past the 22 minute mark.
Tags: Action 2008, Ben Stiller, Comedy 2008, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr, War 2008