I thought I'd finally drop another movie review. I recently rewatched Tropic Thunder, the 2008 satirical comedy action movie. This is generally one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I don't think you could make a movie like this today with things being so woke! The set up here is that you have actors in the movie that are supposed to be making a Vietnam War movie. Early in the movie production on their set things go bad. The guy who wrote the (fictional Tropic Thunder) book suggests to the director that they need to take their entitled actors and "Put them in the real shit" to make their movie good.
The movie's casting is absolutely stacked. You have Ben Stiller who plays Tugg Speedman. Tugg was once a big action star with his Scorcher films but lately they've cooled at the box office. Tugg also played in a movie called Simple Jack where he plays a mentally challenged farm hand that can talk to animals....(yeah LOL). So he basically accepts the role of the head of the military Four Leaf Tayback to revive his acting career. Before the movie starts you see his faux movie trailer for Scorcher VI:Global Meltdown. It's like "when the world's axis stopped spinning the world looked to one man...."
Jack Black is here as Jeff Portnoy who is a comedian who's movies involve fart jokes. His faux trailer featured him doing the same thing Eddie Murphy did in the Nutty Professor movie. It's called the Fatties: Fart 2. In the movie the character is drug addicted and he tries to eat some "jelly beans" constantly behind the group's back. In the movie he plays Fats.
Robert Downey Jr. is I think the funniest character in this movie. He's playing Kirk Lazarus who is an Australian method actor and 5 time academy award winner. In his faux trailer called Satan's Alley, he is a homosexual monk who's in a relationship with Tobey Maguire (who plays himself). At the end of the trailer there's a whisper, "Ive been a bad boy father" LOL. He does a "controversial pigmentation surgery" to darken his skin so he can play the squad's African American staff sergeant Lincoln Osiris. So basically he's acting like a black stereotype for most of the movie. Its absolutely hilarious.
There's other main characters too like Alpa Chino who is a rapper (In universe). His faux trailer is for his "Bust a Nut" candy bar and "Booty Sweat" energy drink.In the trailer he says, "I love the pussy (hell yeah)" He says he joined the Tropic Thunder cast to play an African American soldier. Him and Kirk Lazarus's character clash a lot lol. The thing about his character is later you find out he's secretly gay and its wild.
Then there's Kevin Sandusky who is like the up and coming actor. He's kinda nerdy too. Tugg Speedman's agent Rick "The Pecker" Peck (played by Matthew Maconaughey) is pretty funny too. The guy who funds the Tropic Thunder movie is Les Grossman (Played by Tom Cruise), a is a foul mouthed ill tempered guy who loves hip hop.
So basically the movie heats up when the Tropic Thunder cast is taken out on a helicopter and dropped in the Vietnam jungle. The director of the movie tells them they've rigged the jungle with hidden cameras and "nobody gets to go home till we get the shots". Unfortunately he steps on an old landmine and is killed. Tugg Speedman thinks he faked it tho and just then the group comes under fire from a real drug group that you later learn is called Flaming Dragon. The Tropic Thunder special effects guy activates a C-4 bomb that makes the Flaming Dragon guys retreat.
Basically in the movie Tugg has the map but he has no idea where he is going. Kirk Lazarus character is like let me see the map. Kirk finds out Kevin's character can read a map. Kirk says to Tugg "Man you more shredded than a salad man", Tugg is like "thanks", and Kirk is like "whats the secret dude? Its tough im trying to come up..." then he snatches the map from Tugg and gives it to Kevin. Kevin is like "We're going the wrong way! Kirk says, "Son of a bitch" just like a black man would say lol. Tugg says, "What is wrong with you people?" and Kirk is like "What do you mean you people?". And Alpa Chino says, "What do you mean you people?" LOL. It turns out Kirk is completely in character until he does the DVD commentary lol.
The movie just has so many funny moments. I don't want to really spoil the whole plot but yeah its definitely a gem from the 2000s. You definitely couldn't make sequel to it but I guess a similar movie could do well....the movie makes fun of Actors and Hollywood. It's just a gem. The first time I saw the movie with a friend back in summer 2008 and She and I laughed so hard at it!
Verdict 9.7