MacGruber

In 1985, a show began about a man who refused to use weapons but instead used his mind (and everyday household items, of course) to outwit the bad guys. Fast forward to the beginning of the 21st century, Will forte created a character on Saturday Night Live that would have been hilarious and relevant, in the 80's. His character MacGruber stars in a one-note riff parodying the TV icon Macgeyver. Naturally Lorne Michaels thought this 90-second sketch should be made into a feature length movie.

Along with Forte, fellow SNL cast member Kristen Wiig is thrown into the mix as MacGruber's daft gal Friday, Vicki St. Elmo. A nuclear warhead is stolen and of course the only man for the job is a stale 80's parody. In this film it actually works. Stuck together like makeshift crossbow made out of Bubble Yum and a paper clip, Macgruber mixes realistic action with over the top crude, childish and witty comedy. The movies gags are a lot like Macgruber himself. When he wins, he wins big but when he fails he falls flat on his face. The hit and miss comedy will leave you cackling and rolling your eyes. The movie's strength is its repetition of jokes, which surprisingly, make you laugh harder the second time.

Forte plays Macgruber with the same weak acting as that of MacGyver. Some of his nonsense rings true and some of it makes you wish he'd shut up. Val Kilmer is given surprisingly little to do as the movies villain. The funniest thing about him is his name. All together it leaves us with a mish mash of epic proportions. Though uneven the film does reward its audience with laughs. MacGruber has parts that shouldn't fit but by some miracle the Bubble Yum holds.

I went to see this film with absolutely no knowledge of what it was about. I was more then pleasantly surprised.

The set pieces were obvious and you could see what was going to happen ages before it actually happened but that didn't stop this film being funny.

I laughed myself silly on numerous occasions.

THe premise is fairly self explanatory, they tell you whats going on in the first 5 minutes. The characters are a bit one dimensional but MacGruber, his side kicks played by the brilliant Kristen Wiig and the ever handsome Ryan Phillipe were very funny and a great foil for the stupidness that was MacGruber.

This film is definitely not going to win any Oscars or be lasting in your memory but for the duration of the film you will be entertained.

Only go and see if you like this type of Superbad or Role Model-esquire type of films.

Leave your brain at the door and you'll be sorted.

Why does this film get such a low-rating? Well, just because it's super raunchy and not family-friendly or Oscar-worthy. If there was a rating for hilarious-ness, then this would be 11! Rewatching is a must; there are so many great jokes written and they are delivered so well by Will Forte and the rest of the cast. They will make you laugh again and again and have a fun evening. SNL short Macgruber was one of the best of Will forte and of the writing team, delivering great jokes within 30 seconds, mocking in a sweet and respectful way the old classic series of Mcgyver and his adventures. Maybe have a look in YouTube for these SNL shorts if you are not familiar with Mcgruber and this comedy style and you see right away what's this all about. It will make you understand some references but even as a stand-alone film, it delivers. If you like (or liked) SNL and if you are a fun of comedies with Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg or Seth Rogen/James Franco, then you will appreciate the humor and the hilarity of this film.11/10 hilarious.

Movies that are based on Saturday Night Live sketches usually fall flat at the box office. Its hard to stretch one little sketch into a full length film obviously. Magruber is not a film for the sensitive. It is very vulgar and its hero is more annoying then anything else. Will Forte just doesn't chew the scenery, he grinds it into baby food! Val Kilmer pretty much does the same as the bad guy. What made me like this film isn't its star, but Kristen Wiig as Vicki and Ryan Phillippe as Lt. Piper. They both give great comic performances. Wiig has a howlingly funny moment in the coffee shop while shes wearing a wire. Actually the real hero of the film is Piper, if it hadn't been for him Magruber would have been dead several times over. In addition, Powers Boothe gives a great performance as Magruber's frustrated commanding officer. I wanted to mention that I learned something watching this film, I didn't know what a double decker was, now I do.

Okay, I hate to start by blatantly stealing someone else's quote, but, when reading other reviews of MacGruber, someone else described it as 'Team America, but without the puppets.' Yes, I'd say that's a fair definition - only Team America was very funny and clever. MacGruber has a lot to live up to.

When I started watching MacGruber, I hated it. I was totally with those many 1/5 star reviews I'd seen describing it. My main gripes were that it simply wasn't funny and that the main character (MacGruber, believe it or not) was completely annoying. I was practically on the brink of turning it off after about half an hour, when, to my amazement, I actually laughed.

It's possible that by watching half an hour of this film lowered by IQ enough to watch - and enjoy - the rest of it. Okay, so the second half wasn't comedy gold, but I seemed to have a better idea as to what this film was trying to be and I laughed enough not to qualify this as a complete flop. However, it's worth noting that this film bombed at the box office, so perhaps I'm in a minority here.

It's a (loose) satire on action films where the 'burned out hero' is plucked from retirement for 'one last mission.' It has been done a fair few times before - Hotshots Part Deux was done nearly twenty years ago (and it's probably consistently funnier), but it has enough moments (in the second half) to make it just about worth watching.

And - seriously - don't eat the celery.

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