'MacGruber'

'MacGruber' (R) (1 1/2 stars)

Writers: Will Forte, Jorma Taccone and John Solomon
Director: Jorma Taccone
Starring: Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillipe, Val Kilmer, Powers Boothe, Mark Henry, Kane, Chris Jericho, MVP, The Big Show, The Great Khali

"MacGruber" tries to be funny with material that was already done much better back in the 80's and the 90's. There is always room for the vulgar spoof of any serious genre but it has to be funny. You know you are in trouble when the pro wrestlers that act in your movie come off better than you do. I like Will Forte on "Saturday Night Live", a show that hasn't been funny since the 90's. Here Forte's shtick gets very old after a half hour. "MacGruber" is based on the SNL skit which is a parody of the television show "MacGyver". First off all I might be in the minority but I found the SNL skit to be lame and stupid. Really? You are spoofing a television show from the 90's? Really? Mercifully the skit only lasts for a few minutes. If you see this in the theatre you are tortured for an hour and a half. I don't mind dumb jokes but the dumb jokes here aren't even a good kind of dumb. It is mostly a one joke movie that has one good joke. That is how the characters use the villain's last name which is Von Cunth. That is somewhat clever but after the umpteenth time it is used it gets old especially if the other jokes suck. Val Kilmer is somewhat good here but he has done this thing before much better in the 80's. This is really the Kristen Wiig show who hands down has the only true talent of the current SNL cast. She is in the only truly funny scene in a coffee shop as an explosion very far away takes place. She is the only reason I didn't walk out of the theatre after a bit. I can only take one let alone two shots of a man without pants sticking a piece of celery up his butt as he dances around. There, I just saved you precious minutes of your life.