MacGruber is a lot like the gadgets he pieces together out of random spare parts. Some parts don't quite seem to fit, some don't make any sense at all, the whole concoction seems likely to fail. Yet when put together the experiment is a resounding success. Or at least more effective than expected. MacGruber started as a skit on Saturday Night Live, a show that has a substantial history of taking mildly successful ideas and expanding them on the big screen until they're unrecognizable. Let's just say that being the best SNL movie is a lot like being the thinnest kid at fat camp. It's not much of a measuring stick. But if I ever cobbled together a list of my favorite SNL flicks, there's no doubt that MacGruber might be near or at the top of my list.
MacGruber(Will Forte) is an American hero. He's got 16 purple hearts and a half dozen other honors reserved for America's finest. He's the best there is at what he does, although it's not quite clear what that is exactly. He seems stuck in a perpetual world of 80s action films. He's got the mullet, the vest jacke that looks like he's about to on a nature hike, and he carries around his tape deck like a briefcase. He's a lot like Austin Powers in the way he's a character trapped in time. Retired and living as a monk after the murder of his wife(Maya Rudolph) on their wedding day, he's content to live out a life of relative peace...except for the local kids who keep stealing his stuff.
It's not long before the past comes knocking on the door of his cave, and the military is lookin' to bring MacGruber back into the fold. His old enemy, Dieter Von Cunth(Val Kilmer, doing a Nic Cage-type wacko thing), has returned and he's acquired a nuclear missile. MacGruber believes Von Cunth is responsible for his wife's death, the pain of the memory enough to bring him back into active duty. Rounding up a team of burly pro wrestlers(Mark Henry, Kane, Chris Jericho, MVP, The Great Khali, and the Big Show) he sets off to do battle. Let's just say that things end rather explosively, and MacGruber's machismo is shattered. Forced to team up with iron jawed rookie Dixon Piper(Ryan Phillippe) and former flame Vicki St. Elmo(the hilarious Kristen Wiig), MacGruber is back on the case.
One of the biggest problems with Saturday Night Live movies is that they choose skits that have a very limited range of appeal. Let's take Tim Meadows' The Ladies Man for example. It's a funny concept, an oversexed 1970s African-American male stereotype who's sole purpose was to mack on chicks. It's good for a 5-minute bit, and to be fair
The Ladies Man 
is good for about 5 minutes. Then a plot is required and the shortcomings of the premise become readily apparent. I thought MacGruber would suffer the same fate. Let's not forget how the original skits were structured. It was basically a MacGyver spoof, which always ended with MacGruber blowing himself up. He was the human version of Toonces the driving cat(I want THAT movie!!). Writer/director Jorma Taccone wisely expanded the MacGruber concept, making it a fun riff on the entire action genre. It was like watching one of those awful 80s action B-movies with Rutger Hauer or Fred Ward, only funnier.
Will Forte shows he's got a lot more big screen comedy cred than he displayed in the horrendous film,
The Brothers Solomon
, from a couple years back. He plays MacGruber not as a character from a spoof, but as a legit wild card with a delusional overconfidence in his own abilities. The real stars of the show are Phillippe and Wiig. I've never really found her mousy, deadpan approach all that effective in other films(
Adventureland
being a prime example), but it works as a contrast to MacGruber's over-the-top antics here. The same goes for Phillippe, who plays the classic straight man forced to exist in the chaotic world MacGruber creates. Val Kilmer is toned down way too much, and isn't given nearly enough screen time to be nearly as fun as he could be.
MacGruber is a silly, often stupid film. It revels in that stupidity, which is why it works so well. There's no attempt to deviate from the crackpot tone kicked off in the rockin' opening credits, with title credits that explode at you like a rocket grenade. Not at all for the kiddies, there's no shortage of nudity. All of it male, unfortunately. All of it involving vegetables of some sort. Don't ask. There's even some corpse desecration humor for you sickos out there. Enjoy!
MacGruber isn't going to win any awards, but it does what it set out to do. It sets up MacGruber as an action/comedy hero with potential franchise appeal. Featuring great character work by Wiig and Phillippe, a fast paced script with rapid fire jokes that never seem to let up. Usually, SNL characters run their course afer a couple of appearances, but I actually want to see MacGruber come back for another mission.
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