Those of you who read my MacGruber preview will already know that I was, against my better judgement, looking forward to the latest feature length offering from the current minds behind Saturday Night Live. Those of you who didn’t read it can go fuck yourself.
Since watching the movie I have been trying to place it within the catalogue of SNL adaptations and I think it’s safe to say it’s certainly no Wayne’s World. However, despite failing to turn a profit on its meek $10 million budget in the US it’s also, thankfully, no Night at the Roxbury either.
For those of you still living in ignorance MacGruber (Will Fortè) is the tale of a rogue Government super soldier with a gun phobia. As such he uses his mad arts and crafts skills to fashion weaponry from house hold items, much like his almost name-sake MacGyver. MacGruber is accompanied on his various endeavours by card carrying military poster boy Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillipe) and partner in… stopping crime, Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig).
Despite what I believed to be a potentially hilarious spoof MacGruber lacks originality. From the outset the film hits almost identical beats to 1993’s Hot Shots! Part Deux and whilst some might say that’s not necessarily a bad thing the whole thing does seem all too familiar. There are a few noteworthy laughs (a lot of which are in the trailer) but where joke repetition can work brilliantly in weekly three minute sketches, the hilarity of a villain named Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer) wears thin over the course of two hours.
As you’d expect from some seasoned SNL pros there are some funny skits played out in the film, scenes between Wiig and Fortè in particular, offer up some decent laughs. Where the film does fall flat however, is in its quotability. Comedies like Wayne’s World and more recently Anchorman have proved that a film’s quoteability can prove crucial in its enduring popularity. Back in the 90’s I could go whole days speaking entirely in Wayne’s World quotes. Despite some genre riffing one-liners, (“What a shame, dead at the age of who gives a fuck!”) MacGruber affords us no such pleasures.
As a result, despite being a little bit of fun, MacGruber is almost (emphasis on the ‘almost’) instantly forgettable. Rated a 15 the film itself is probably too juvenile for adults and too adult for juveniles so will more than likely flounder in box office limbo having very little affect on the careers of its stars. Fortè will just go back to TV, Wiig will thankfully, continue on her upward trajectory and Ryan Phillipe will go back to being the father of Reese Witherspoon’s kids.
If you’re already an SNL fan you probably already have plans to go see MacGruber. If not, check out the trailer below.
