MacGruber Review

Problems certainly arise when you try to turn a 2 minute SNL skit into a feature length film, but MacGruber simply ignores them, and as a result, so does the audience. The film may not be as inherently clever as The Hangover, but it is consistently funny throughout, relying mostly on rude humor to sell each joke. The film focuses on MacGruber, a former guy-who-worked-for-the-government, who is suddenly called back into duty to track down the terrorist who killed his wife, and to stop him from sending a nuclear warhed to destroy Washington D.C.

The film may be a comedy, but it does have action aspects to it, even if they're a little bit off kilter. We get some nice gun fighting, and a bit of hand to hand combat, but the Pièce de résistance of the action sequences is MacGruber ripping out throats. It's grisly, effective, and hillariously outrageous enough not to feel out of place. The cinematography may be simplistic, but at least it doesn't try to mess with the audience by going every which way during the action sequences. Composer Matthew Compton's music is adequate for an action movie, but nothing revolutionary.

But the technical aspects aren't going to be the reason people go see this film. The script may not be too smart, but then again neither is the character of MacGruber. The film knows how dumb it is, and it doesn't try to be anything else. It really has nothing to lose from doing something incredibly stupid, which it does on several occasions. It does have some tender moments, but never at the expense of the humor. Will Forte has inhabited the role of MacGruber for quite some time on SNL, so by now he knows exactly what moves to make with the character. MacGruber is a complete imbacile, a stone cold killer, but there is a heart beneath all that.

Kristen Wiig gets the most chance to expand from her SNL persona of Vicky St. Elmo, and she really does a fantastic job at delivering each line she's given. Vicky is the sort of girl who MacGruber can rely on no matter what, even when he makes the stupid douchebag decisions he does. Val Kilmer's villain (whose name will not be mentioned here because it's filthy) has a good reason for doing what he's doing, and that is money. Some things are as simple as being payed by the Chinese to destroy America. In the end MacGruber is a simple satirical action-comedy that does a better job engaging with the audience than most of the blockbusters that have come out so far this summer.

B