Tropic Thunder (Ben Stiller, 2008)



Synopsis
Tropic Thunder was the hit comedy/action movie of the summer. The story starts off with a bunch of fake trailers, which really work well in the movie, to really get the feel of the movie in. Because the overall premise of the movie is a bunch of actors trying to make a movie. But when they just can’t seem to get the movie right, the director decides to take them into the jungle and make the movie right. But as it turns out, the movie that the actors think they’re making isn’t even a movie anymore. It takes them a little while to finally figure that out, but finally when they find that they aren’t making a movie anymore, they deicide to intervene and get out of this jungle. It won’t be as easy as they think it will be though. They have to find a way though, or they are all as good as dead, so they must get their heads into the real world and work together, and doing that might help them get out of the jungle. Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Jay Brauchel, Brandon T. Jackson, and Tom Cruise all star in this epic comedy.

Actors/Characters
All of the actors did a great job playing the roles of their character right. Still was meant to be a self conceded person, and he plays that part very well. I’m not really surprised though, because Stiller can seem to play any role possible from all the roles that we’ve seen him in. Downey Jr. really had me impressed in Tropic Thunder, even more than Zodiac or Iron Man, because his character was really supposed to be a self conceded person like Stiller’s character. I didn’t really know if he could do it or not at first, but he really did a great job at it, probably even better than Stiller did with it. He also showed me he can be a great action star in this one, mainly because of the beginning and ending scenes of Tropic Thunder, I already knew he was great at action though with Iron Man. I was really surprised with Black in this role though, because I usually tend not to like him that much. He’s usually just annoying in roles to me, but he was actually genuinely funny as his character in Tropic Thunder. I didn’t really know what to expect with Brauchel though, because the only other thing I’ve really seen him was Knocked Up. And he really didn’t really have a big of role in Knocked Up as I thought he was going to have though. This was the first movie that I’ve seen with Jackson in it, and I was quite pleased. I look forward to seeing him in some more upcoming movies. But the best actor in this, besides Downey Jr., was Tom Cruise by far. I never knew Tom Cruise could be so hilarious, but he really showed me he could in Tropic Thunder. He should definitely do some more outrageous roles in the future like his role in Tropic Thunder.

Plot
The story was a lot like Tom Cruise’s role in this, it was very outrageous. It was just so far over the top, that it was just epic. Tropic Thunder’s story felt very much like a Judd Apatow movie, which may have been why I liked it so much. Because Judd Apatow is my favorite person involved with comedy. But Apatow had nothing to do with Tropic Thunder, it was all just Stiller. I’m actually surprised though that Stiller has only directed only 3 other theatrical release movies. And from the ones that I’ve seen that he’s directed, I seem to like. Hopefully with how well Tropic Thunder was, he’ll direct some more. Especially because this is the first theatrical release movie that’s he directed since 2001. The beginning and ending are by far the two best scenes of the movie, which is actually sort of ironic, because those are two action sequences and not comedy scenes. But then again, it isn’t that ironic because it is supposed to be an action/comedy and not just a comedy.



My Final Thoughts On It
My thoughts overall on it, was that I loved it. It’s probably my favorite comedy, but all that really depends on what you would consider a comedy. Because I do like quite a few movies more, that may be considered a comedy. If you’re a fan of anyone in the movie though, it’d definitely be one that I would recommend you see because all the cast does a great job in Tropic Thunder. It is the best spoof that I’ve ever seen, but then again that really isn’t saying much because of all the recent insert genre here movies. I’m not sure I’d say go out and blind buy it though, because I know not everyone’s going to suddenly love it as much as I do. Because I’ve heard some people say that they didn’t like it that much, so I’d recommend that you go rent it first just to make sure it’s worth a buy for you. I personally thought it was a little better in theaters though, then when I recently watched it on DVD. If you’re in the mood for an epic comedy though, this is main one that I would recommend you get because this is the best epic comedy that I’ve yet to see.