Review of Tropic Thunder (2008) by Michael S — 24 Apr 2013

Plot: Ridiculous, but in a goofy, cartoonish way without ever going too too far. It starts out regularly enough, but over the course of the movie it keeps building up the silly until it almost becomes a live-action cartoon. However, the jokes are good enough throughout to keep you invested in this silly tale.

Script/Acting: As I stated in the plot section, the jokes are mostly well written, and well delivered by the star-studded cast. The actors deliver they lines and reactions confidently and are mostly believable in their caricatures of themselves. Though, there are times when the acting is a little too over the top for my liking (Jack Black). My favorite character by far has to be Downey Jr.'s portrayal of himself if he were an Australian playing a black man playing an Army Sargent. Ben Stiller playing the Studio Producer is a close second.

Soundtrack/SFX: The explosions are loud and spectacular, the gun shots sound like gun shots. The soundtrack itself is mixed, with hip-hop music and 60's style Vietnam tracks littered through the movie, each lending a hand to help high light what they're parodying. The soundtrack really works with the movie as far as the jokes go, a long with many of the songs being classic rock tunes.

Visuals: Impressive for a comedy movie to say the least. There are a lot of beautiful shots of the Asian jungle/mountainside in this movie a long with some very well choreographed explosions . Again, the visuals helping the movie bring out some of its best bits rather than hamper or overshadow them. The way the panda slaying was set up left me laughing out loud the first time I watched this movie.

Overall: Solid Stiller comedy movie, from the faux intro-credits that help set up many of the characters, to the outro end stills, this movie will provide you with some good laughs. Not Stiller's best comedy, but definitely not his worst. 4/5.