The general plot of the film intrigues me, I like the idea of a film within a film and it generally turns out to be a solid, if poorly written story. The actual comedic elements of the film are very hit and miss and whilst some do hit the mark very well, such as the 'never go full retard' line, but often many of the jokes feel forced and barely put a smile on your face. An example of this would be the film's climax which is held together by a quite annoying and somehow underwhelming joke that the film doesn't really deserve, it deserves a proper finish. However, there are certainly enough comedic scenes to make the overall experience entertaining and some decent action sequences that come as a pleasant surprise including one of the best deaths in any film ever, it's just so unexpected.
My favorite moment of the film is probably the intro, it is such an original idea and whilst also providing a great set of laughs it sets up the characters perfectly making the story more intriguing. Sometimes the caricatures are too much, namely Jack Black who plays an annoying heroine addict that makes predictable, stereotypical jokes that just get a bit too much in the end. However, the other characters are portrayed well, especially Robert Downey Jr who plays a black man, yes a black man, and does a very good job, his charisma with Ben Stiller is one of the main reasons I would recommend this film, it really does have star power and uses it very effectively.
I also like the fact that this film doesn't take itself seriously, which fits the genre, it knows it's a rip off of classic war movies and so just pokes fun at them. Sometimes it copies them too literally as the pacing of this film is very similar to Full Metal Jacket in that the first half is much stronger than the second with some of the jokes getting repetitive and the action sequences becoming quite dull. Despite the sometimes lackluster action sequences it still never forgets its roots in comedy and if the second half does disappoint slightly then you can always fall back on a discriminative joke in the first. This film though did get a lot of slack for jokes aimed at the mentally handicapped and being a person who has had personal experience with mental disabilities I don't find the jokes offensive at all, anyone who does is missing the point of the film, a bit like when Life Of Brian was released.
Overall then this film is a refreshing installment of a genre that really has churned out some crap recently. Its original idea and action sub genre definitely come out stronger than the noticeable flaws and poor script. Having said that I still think this film is overrated, the reviews I have read claim this film to be hilarious, it isn't hilarious, just quite funny. It is however an overall entertaining experience that good acting and interesting plot carry in a film that never gets boring. While not an absolute classic that its subjects were it is still a breath of fresh air to a normally dull genre.
Final Score: 6/10 ***
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