MacGruber (2010)
Directed by Jorma Taccone
Ex-special operative MacGruber is called back into action to take down his archenemy, Dieter Von Cunth, who's in possession of a nuclear warhead and bent on destroying Washington, DC.
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What critics compared MacGruber to
“MacGruber” puts the “sort of” in “sort of funny,” which, on a spectrum populated with both “Wayne’s World” and “It’s Pat,” registers as both a relief and a disappointment.
There isn't much competition in this category, admittedly, but "MacGruber" is the funniest "Saturday Night Live"-based film since "Wayne's World."
And as for that accursed "SNL"-movie connection that follows this comedy like a long slimy tail: It's deserved, since those movies were almost uniformly awful, with the exception of "The Blues Brothers" and " Wayne's World " - the first because it was on a bigger canvas than anyone expected, and the second because it was on a smaller one.
"MacGruber," like 1992's "Wayne's World" and 1998's "A Night at the Roxbury" before it, takes vaguely drawn, one-joke characters and proceeds to not only expand their worlds, but also place them in something approaching a cohesive narrative.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Directed by Jay Roach
Plot Characters Visuals Themes
It is, appropriately enough, a jury-rigged patchwork creation, made up of lame repetitive gags and a lot of stuff we've seen done before and better in other movies, particularly Zoolander, Austin Powers and Hot Shots!
In this regard, it’s similar to Austin Powers.
Surely Taccone — who makes an inauspicious directorial debut with MacGruber — remembers how much a strong and colorful foe like Dr. Evil contributed to the fun and mayhem of the Austin Powers’ trilogy?
Beyond the MacGuyver spoof, however, the film takes shots at pretty much every action movie of the 1980s -- from First Blood to Lethal Weapon to Die Hard -- and the result is a feature that does for that genre what Austin Powers did for 1960s spy flicks.
Director Taccone does what Jay Roach never managed in the " Austin Powers " movies: He visually nails the genre, and not just in the obvious ways.
The satire isn’t really of “MacGyver,” but an Austin Powers-type parody of the ridiculousness of action movie climaxes.
Pulling into an RV park for some overnight rest and relaxation, they open their door upon sweet Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig, "Macgruber" --at her most sensually interesting) who takes the earthlings' passports, not yet realizing that a third occupant is aboard because he happens to have gone invisible by way of one of his special talents.
Betteractually, the best thing about the filmis a very sweet Kristen Wiig (2010's " MacGruber "), getting the heartiest laughs as Ruth Buggs, the God-fearing daughter of devoutly religious RV camp owner Moses (John Carroll Lynch).
Overall, Masterminds is a textbook farce that feels like a combination of Fargo and Napoleon Dynamite, with a dash of MacGruber thrown in for good measure.
Honestly, Hess’ “Jason Boring” feels like a trailer-trash MacGruber spinoff, right down to funny drawings by its lead, more bad Wiig singing and super-throwback technology jokes.