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This Means War Review

Review by IndiaGlitz [ Saturday, March 17, 2012 • Hollywood ]
This Means War Review
Banner:
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Cast:
Tom Hardy, Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon, Chelsea Handler, Til Schweiger
Direction:
McG
Production:
Robert Simonds, Jennifer Simpson, Will Smith, Reese Witherspoon
Music:
Christophe Beck

Cliched, predictable, convenient and yet, entertaining - That's what indeed describes 'This Means War', a film which has been clearly made with one mandate - 'Make a quick film in a decent budget, keep the audience engaged for those 100 odd minutes, let the moolah come and keep all ambitions of making anything out of the ordinary on bay'. With such clear instructions, 'This Means War' comes across as a good bubblegum film that also has some decent doses of action, courtesy the lead protagonists that have been set in CIA instead of a High School. This is what actually turns out to be the USP of the film as well.

Chris Pane and Tom Hardy are buddies in arms who fight together, say 'I Love You' to each other perhaps half a dozen times a day, believe in promising each other a 'gentleman's agreement' (though without quite following it), try to bring in wit and charm in their dealings with the bad guys and then show their own bad side (in of course a nice and harmless way) once they fall for the same girl - Reese Witherspoon.

This alliance indeed means war because though the two guys promise each other that they would lend each other a fair chance in winning this love, it is a war like situation for Chris and Tom. So while both men take best advantage of their position as agents where they can divert all surveillance in the world to their own personal cause of tracking every moment of their lady love, it is the girl who has a mind of her own as well. Or perhaps not because she is being further instructed by Chelsea Handler who has a dream or two about men, especially after being married to (in her own words) a 'fat and ridiculous' guy!

With a basic plot like this, 'This Means War' could have become just a rehash of countless such films based on the same plot that has been made all over the world. However director McG keeps it simple and basic by not quite expanding his horizon and playing within the limits of the film's canvas by inducing good enough humour right through the narrative. There are moments and there are episodes which ensure that those 100 minutes pass by in quick time and even though at times you pretty much know what the next scene would look like, you don't really mind since it never ever bores you.

So while its the moment when Reese and Chris come face to face with each other in a movie store or the point where they go to a night club to the one where it is upon Reese to choose between the two guys (by sleeping with them) to the sabotage attempt by Tom to a villain angle being thrown in to the grandmother meet to the father-son-girlfriend bonding to the ultimate finale - most of it comes with a seen-it-done-all feel to it. However what makes 'This Means War' still enjoyable is the fact that nothing is stretched to make you feel deja vu.

What also works for the film are good performances by each of the three protagonists who play their part without trying to eat into each other's space or going over and above the script. It's the control factor that works well for 'This Means War', especially with witty dialogues being thrown in, which ensure that as an audience, you have a smile on your face throughout the film with an occasional laughter thrown in for good measure as well. Moreover to mitigate the risk of monotony setting in, there are some decent action pieces interspersed into the narrative as well that keep the pace up here.

This is one of those conventional films that can be given a comfortable watch!

Rating: ***

Rating: 0 / 5.0

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