This Means War

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Belinda

Another action/romantic comedy mix however this one has obviously had a much larger budget thrown at it. And far more likeable stars. McG delivers another slick looking popcorn flick and although there were no giant apocalyptic sentient robots it was equally as unbelievable.

But who cares. Chris Pine and Tom Hardy both get their shirts off. Reese Witherspoon isn't good enough for either of them. And as usual, the nice guy of the two doesn't get the girl. But that's ok they set up a fall back option for him early in the film so it's pretty obvious how it's all going to shape out.

I loved seeing them try to shoehorn in whole movies worth of subplots. You got your CIA terrorist hunt, which ends in an obligatory kidnapping and car chase, you got your romantic comedy girls dilemma complete with horrible advice giving best friend (or in this case, older sister probably one of the worst characters ever to grace the silver screen), you got your buddy cop movie, father having trouble connecting with son, vapid males midlife existential crisis and a divorced couple trying to make it work again. And they all blend together pretty seamlessly, well for the most part. The terrorist thing, not so much. All that does is give a little action set piece for the start and at the end to heighten the romantic dilemma.

5 formulaic plots make for one giant formulaic movie. It has all the advantages and disadvantages inherent with each. You know what the entire film is from the trailer. You'll know if you'll enjoy it or not. It's well paced, fun, the leads are hot. You could do worse.