Blogorium Review: MacGruber

I had a hell of a time getting anybody to come with me to see MacGruber tonight. For some reason, everyone had something else to do or wasn't sure that they really wanted to see a 90 minute movies based on a 90 second sketch on SNL. Oh sure, most SNL movies are pretty bad, especially in the post- Wayne's World 2 era, so who could really blame them for wanting to skip out on the next potential Night at the Roxbury or The Ladies Man? So they all politely had better things to do.

To them I say: Your Loss.

For anyone who doesn't know who MacGruber is, the premise is very simple: Will Forte is a MacGyver-like super-agent that always ends up blowing himself, Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig), and whoever the guest star is after failing to disarm a bomb:



As a regular watcher of Saturday Night Live, when I heard that MacGruber was written by Will Forte, along with SNL writer John Solomon and The Lonely Island (Hot Rod, Dick in a Box) member Jorma Taccone (who also directed), I'm on board. Add Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer, and Powers Boothe and you've sweetened the pot. I wasn't so sure about Ryan Phillippe, but he was really good on SNL a few weeks ago. See for yourself:



For starters, the movie is nothing like the sketch, and that works to its benefit. Like The Blues Brothers or, yes, Wayne's World*, the character of MacGruber is the jumping off point for a much different story. Since you know almost nothing about MacGruber anyway, that gives Forte, Solomon, and Taccone the opportunity to make up his backstory and do whatever they want with the character. And what they do is pretty amazing.

The nefarious Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer) steals a Russian X5 nuclear missile and is planning to blow up Washington, D.C. during the State of the Union. In order to stop him, Colonel John Faith (Powers Boothe) reactivates MacGruber (Forte) - who's been dead for ten years after Cunth detonated a bomb at MacGruber's wedding - to stop him. When MacGruber leaves his team (comprised of WWE Superstars Chris Jericho, Kane, The Great Kali, MVP, and Mark Henry) in a van packed with homemade C4, well, you can guess what happens.

So MacGruber, with his new team of Lieutenant Dixon Piper (Phillipe) and Vicki St. Elmo (Wiig), sets out to discover where the bomb is, doing so in the worst possible ways. Along the way... actually, I'm not going to tell you what happens. What makes MacGruber work where so many SNL movies haven't is its willingness not to be for all audiences.

MacGruber is a hard R: in addition to the rampant profanity, crude behavior, and pieces of celery being shoved up characters asses, MacGruber is also pretty violent. Okay, very violent. I'm not going to say when it happens, but MacGruber is not exaggerating his claims of loving to rip peoples' throats out, and when he goes for the Turkey (think "Hat Trick"), it's a sight to see. Additionally, every single time Piper shoots someone, a blast of arterial spray flies into the air before they slump over dead.

So yeah, MacGruber isn't afraid to swing for the fences in violence, crassness, sexuality (just wait for that ghost sex-scene), and profanity. But more importantly, it's funny anyway. It doesn't need the shock value or lines like "It's time to pound some Cunth" (say it out loud) to get laughs; they just add to the experience.

Where most of the comedy comes from is the adherence of MacGruber to action films of the 1980s. While the sketch is a MacGyver knock-off, the film liberally satirizes the Rambo films, Commando, Missing in Action, and most of the Cannon films or Golan-Globus catalog. If you can think of a stereotypical action movie trope, you're going to see it here, and then some. They even get in a strange James Bond dig when MacGruber and Cunth meet face to face.

Speaking of which, the other reason this movie works is the supporting cast. Kristen Wiig has impeccable timing for playing uncomfortable dialogue that trails off, and Vicki St. Elmo is asked to do increasingly stupid and dangerous things that give her the chance to really work the laughs. Ryan Phillippe may actually be the funniest supporting cast member by playing it straight, as his responses to MacGruber's ridiculous ideas get bigger laughs than Forte's set ups. Not to say that Will Forte isn't amazing as MacGruber: unlike the sketches, he pretty much plays the character straight, and the little touches like always taking his Blaupunkt stereo out of his car so no one steals it get increasingly funnier as the film goes on.

I must take a moment to discuss Val Kilmer's Dieter Von Cunth. For starters, I should say that despite the name, it isn't actually a joke that's overused in the film. There's enough time between saying his last name that you can forget about it an appreciate the next bout of pun-ing. But anyway, it's a pleasure to see Val Kilmer in an outright comedy again. There was a taste of it in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but in MacGruber Kilmer is an all out comic villain, and he's hilarious. The back and forth's with MacGruber may be my favorite scenes, and the sense of relish Kilmer takes in playing Cunth near the end of the movie really give the film that extra "oomph."

By the way, stick through the credits, so you can hear one of aspiring songwriter Vicki St. Elmo's songs. It's called "Rock My Body", and Doctor Tom (the only person brave enough to join me) was in fits of laughter. It's incredibad. It's a shame MacGruber is going to make no money whatsoever - there were eight people in a large theatre with us at the 10 o'clock Friday showing... not good - because I'm already down for another MacGruber movie.

Since that's probably not going to happen, if any of you want to atone for missing out, then I recommend you join the Cap'n for a repeat viewing sometime very soon. You won't regret it.



* I am not a big fan of Wayne's World. I used to like the movie, but now I'm just not that into it. However, I admit that it is typically the "high water mark" for SNL movies.