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A full-length film version of a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch may seem anachronistic these days; after all, it seemed the SNL movie finally died out way back in 1999/2000 with the one-two TKO of SUPERSTAR and THE LADIES MAN. The problems were obvious: even a talented cast and crew can rarely stretch out a three or four minute skit that hinged on the personality of the performer as he or she ran through the same joke again and again. I can think of only two times it did - THE BLUES BROTHERS and WAYNE'S WORLD. These films worked because their subject matter allowed for a larger story to unfold.

Lorne Michael's subsequent production efforts have taken the smarter tack. They build new stories around established talents, with the result that we go into the film with familiarity, to be sure, but also a sense of fun and surprise at what our favorite comedians might cook up. Tina Fey has really taken the ball and run with it in her backstage-at- SNL-show "30 Rock", realizing that after a while, all comedy sketches seem the same and the audience wants a different perspective. Meanwhile MACGRUBER co-writer and director Jorma Taccone, Andy Samberg and Akiva Goldsman (together The Lonely Island), have become the most popular act on SNL by largely ignoring its conventions and doing what they want. Samberg's on-air sketches are mostly forgettable, but he shines in LI's genre-skewing short videos.

Taccone and company know how to tap cultural cliché like no one else working today. They represent a new type of humor at work in American comedy - one that lovingly wallows in cultural familiarity and the ironic potential therein. In an age of YouTube and instant dissemination of, well, everything, they know that the best way to reach the widest audience at a level that truly connects is through their pop umbilical cords.

Will Forte's "MacGruber" sketches follow an identical formula: MacGruber, a hyper skilled MacGyver parody (we learn in the opening of the film that he has something like 16 Purple Hearts and four Medals of Honor, and has somehow served multiple tours of duty as a member of every branch of the armed forces) is trapped in a control room of some bad guy's lair with his assistant, Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and a third person played by that week's guest star. Plus a bomb with a 20 second timer. MacGruber sets to work using household items to defuse the bomb, but invariably becomes distracted, largely due to his own hubris and general cluelessness, and the bomb explodes. Forte and Taccone wisely dispense with this template until very late in the game, instead constructing a plot in which MacGruber is free to run wild. Thus: rich evil guy Dieter Von Cunth (Kilmer, having a ball) steals a nuclear missile which he intends to use on Washington, D.C. His motives are unimportant. What is important is that there's only one guy who can stop him: MacGruber. In an opening scene recalling RAMBO III (tellingly, the stupidest one), MacGruber's former commanding officer (Powers Boothe) tracks down the titular hero at a monastery in Ecuador, where he's spent the last ten years in seclusion following the death of his bride at the altar. She was blown up by Cunth. It was messy. It takes some convincing, and a team-assembling montage gone horribly, horribly wrong, but pretty soon MacGruber's back in action and taking the fight to the enemy.

Support is provided by Kristen Wiig as Vicki St. Elmo, a woman as strangely trapped in 1989-era style as MacGruber, as well as Ryan Phillippe as Lt. Dixon Piper, who actually seems to know what he's doing, if he can ever get through to MacGruber, whose home-made tactics not only generally fail to work, but often make things worse. Phillippe, Booth, and even Kilmer stand in for the audience as straight men, scratching their heads at MacGruber's insanity. Taccone and Forte give them lines that echo almost exactly what the average audience member might be thinking when MacGruber distracts some baddies by stripping down and utilizing a piece of celery in an interesting way. And yet it works. It makes sense. What's surprising is the rawness of the film: freed from the limitations of live network television, Taccone and Forte work to earn their R-rating. Boy, do they. MacGruber is a foul-mouthed near-deviant whose dedication to his country is matched only by his penchant for public nudity.

Forte is a dynamo on screen, showing that he, like Will Ferrell and others before him, will do absolutely anything to get a laugh, no matter how potentially embarrassing. While some of these gags might push the bounds of taste – MacGruber has a thing for "throat rips" and the less said about his methods in the bedroom, the better – Forte's exuberance for the character shines through. It's this commitment to the bit that helps MACGRUBER immensely. It's all absurd, parodic, and ultimately pointless, but it's a very entertaining 90 minutes. Taccone and Forte have great fun messing with the conventions of action movies in general – and "MacGyver" in particular, though I doubt MacGyver ever offered to fellate a man to accomplish the mission. The film looks and sounds fine, and Taccone has made a smooth transition from short form music video parodies to action cinema; he's still got some things to learn, but he's definitely got chops. The best thing that can be said of MACGRUBER is that in the end, the intelligence and cleverness of its creators situate this film happily much closer to the work of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg than to the Butabi Brothers.

Let's hope this is the next step in a journey back for Lorne Michaels to producing quality comedy. Somewhere, John Belushi is smiling.

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.

I've never seen SNL or know what it is as I do not live in USA... but it does not really matter, this movie does not seem to need any prior knowledge of this show.

This movie is completely depraved, immature, idiotic, stupid & warped; and i guess this is what makes it so much fun. It is not a serious movie. It does not cover serious topics & provide intellectual insight.

It is a vehicle for a premise of MacGruber, who is a kinda anti-anti-hero, whom can do no wrong and also can do no right. I loved him, then hated him, then loved to hate loving him - the actor did a good job of getting into character of this lunatic. The supporting cast were pretty much just that, to provide support & provide foundation for the slapstick.

The humour is random and very offbeat, it could be depraved at times and was base, but the jokes were laid so thick & fast it was hard for me to catch my breath in between the gags. Maybe they weren't suited to a 'mature' audience but that is definitely not who this movie is intended for. I loved it. I can kinda understand why some people may not but hey; i got to laugh (a lot) & they didn't.

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.

Everything about this should not be funny, yet why am I laughing so much? Because Will Forte is hilarious, that's why. I remember thinking it was such a dumb idea to make this SNL skit into a movie, but they did good. Real good.