Tropic Thunder is an action comedy directed by Ben Stiller. When a bunch of actors are filming a war movie called Tropic Thunder based on real (in the movie) events about a bunch of soldiers in Vietnam. But when they can’t seem to get the job done and finish the movie, the director gets mad and talks to Four Leaf Tayback (who the movie in the movie is written by). So director Damien Cockburn decides to take them into the real jungle and get the movie done right. But when something goes bad and the movie that they think they’re making isn’t a movie anymore. And then Tugg Speedman gets kidnapped by the island foreigners and the rest of the actors have to save him and get off that island before it’s too late. Tropic Thunder has a star filled cast including Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Steve Coogan, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Cruise.
The acting in Tropic Thunder is pretty good from most of the cast. Ben Stiller is hilarious like in all of his movies; this one ranks up there with his best movies. Robert Downey Jr. is the best thing about Tropic Thunder and this I think is his best movie, even better than Iron Man. I didn’t like Jack Black as much in Tropic Thunder, I felt he was kind of annoying the whole movie, but he got better at the end though, but it still really doesn’t make up for him in the rest of the movie. Jay Baruchel was pretty funny, this is the biggest role I’ve seen him in, but I really haven’t seen him in many movies though. Brandon T. Jackson was hilarious, him constantly fighting with Robert Downey Jr. in the movie kept making me laugh. Nick Nolte was pretty good, but it seems he was the more serious actor out of everyone in the movie, which was good since a lot of the movie was action. Danny McBride was very funny like in most of his movies, he didn’t really have as big as role in this as he had in Pineapple Express though, but he was still very funny in all the parts he was actually in. Steve Coogan was pretty funny, his fate is downright hilarious, you after to see it to get it. Matthew McConaughey was pretty funny for the part of the movie he was actually in, which actually was more than I expected. Tom Cruise also had a bigger role than I expected, he had more than just cameo role, and he was very funny in the movie. Bill Hader was also pretty funny for the part of the movie he was in. The rest of the cast also did a great job. But besides of all of the other cast, there was also a bunch of cameos in Tropic Thunder including Jon Voight, Tobey Maguire, and Jason Bateman.
The story for Tropic Thunder is very good. I really liked the addition of the fake trailers at the beginning, sort of like Grindhouse did, but more realistic. I really liked the addition of them making the movie in the movie, because it helped it be funny which it achieved, but it also helped turn Tropic Thunder into an action movie which it did. I felt it was the perfect length, it really wasn’t too long, and I felt if it was any longer it may have started to drag. I liked the ending the best, it had some big action scene at the very end and it also fit comedy into that big action scene. I don’t think the story could’ve been any better.
The visuals in this were pretty fake looking, but it was meant to look fake. It did get pretty gory at times thought so if you’re not into that then you may not want to see this one, even thought as I said before it looks pretty fake, like when this one guy gets shot in the head blood is squirting straight out of his head like a geyser for like 2 minutes, and I’m pretty sure that’s meant to look fake. But besides all of that, it really is just like most visuals for most movies, nothing special.
There is a bunch of comedy in this, but Tropic Thunder is meant to have a lot of comedy in it. But besides comedy there is also a lot of action in this, like the last scene of the movie which is really just one huge action scene. Most of the comedy in this, is from I think at least Robert Downey Jr., but I also think he’s the biggest action star in the whole movie, which to me like I said before makes him the best thing about Tropic Thunder. There is comedy throughout the whole movie and like Pineapple Express had me laughing throughout the whole movie. So this would be a great movie to see for its action and comedy because it’s supposed to be an action comedy movie.
Overall if you’re deciding what movie to watch at the movies this weekend I think you should watch this, because even though I thought Pineapple Express was funnier, I liked this one better for its mix of comedy and action. And like I’ve stated all throughout this whole review I though Robert Downey Jr. was the best thing about this movie, so if you’re a fan of his, I’m sure you’ll like this one. Almost all but one of the star filled cast was great, so that’s something good about Tropic Thunder. Also I loved the fake trailers before this, really gave me the feel of Grindhouse, but the fake trailers really weren’t as stupid as Grindhouse’s even though they were still stupid. I think this is definitely a movie you should see in the movie theaters because of all the action in Tropic Thunder. But if for some reason (which I hope you don’t) you do miss this in theaters, you should definitely buy the DVD whenever it comes out on DVD. Or at least give it a rent.
10/10
Subject: Tropic Thunder 
Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:06 pm
