Review of This Means War (2012) by Stevenf — 11 Jan 2013

It was nice to see these three screen stars take a break and enjoy a silly popcorn movie, but this was just ridiculous.

We see federal agents Tuck (Tom Hardy) and FDR (Chris Pine) going about their usual routine of Bonding it through the first ten minutes, until they accidentally start dating the same girl, Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) which sets off a chain reaction of pointless drama and repetitive lines that never stops. Attempting to sabotage each other dates through equipment used on the field, they soon come to blows, predictably, over who she prefers. The idea was funny, but director McG missed the point completely, the first mission at the start of the film ends tragically for the enemy which as usual sets up a 'big boss' final battle, which was mediocre at best. Hardy seems to realise halfway through the film, "what have I done?" but Pine does to relish his role as the womanising FDR, Witherspoon almost settles back into the ditzy blonde of yester-year we first seen in Legally Blonde. Bane vs Captain Kirk, where did all go wrong?

Well, there simply wasn't enough of these two beating the hell out of the bad guys or out of each other, these were easily the best parts of the film.

This film also fell into the trap of putting all the best parts into the trailer, there was nothing left to ponder, bland and predictable.