REVIEW #16 Tropic Thunder (2008)

Tropic Thunder is directed by Ben stiller and follows a group of spoilt actors as they attempt to film a high budget war film but before they know it they are thrown into the very real action they were trying to recreate. They work their way through the Vietnamese jungle fighting notorious drug dealers, trying to determine what’s real and what’s not.


CAST & THE ACTING (8.5/10)

This cast is full of big names; Ben Stiller, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Junior, Jack Black, Brandon T Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Matthew McConaughey, Bill Hader, Danny Mcbride... there is just so much talent in this film. The reason I have given a pretty high score is because in order to make this film as funny as it is, these actors have to play the most stupid characters with the silliest storyline but that requires good acting to make sure the comedy comes through. So I believe the high score is justified because the cast and the performances are so aligned with the genre. Also to see Tom Cruise playing a character like this was just hilarious. 


PLOT AND THE STORYLINE (8/10)

The plot is easy to follow and is also extremely funny. A bunch of high maintenance actors being put into real warfare, where half the time they think they’re still in character and filming. The plot is perfectly matched to the stupid comedy film this is meant to be! So I feel like it deserves a pretty good score here. 


CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS (7.5/10)

The camera work was pretty basic in terms of capturing the scenes but the explosion special effects and the all action scenes are actually done really well. There are a few moments where the prosthetics are meant to look terrible to draw out the comedy in the scenes and this worked really well. So a respectable score here too.


OVERALL (8/10)

I really enjoyed Tropic Thunder, the silliness in the characters and the plot is just perfect to make this a hilarious film. It something you can watch and just enjoy without thinking to much into it, guaranteed laughs! I would definitely recommend if you’re looking for a good comedy film. If I could sort of summarise it, I would say it’s like Step Brothers crossed with Rambo! Really enjoyable.


Thanks for reading.

Callan

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