Writer: Loong Wai Ting

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Watch this if you liked: "Norbit", "Rambo"

Take a small portion each of Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. then mix them up and you get a superb action-comedy. Although this genre is not as common as the others, "Tropic Thunder" works because it had a good formula and like it or not, a "twigman" award might be on the way (watch it to find out what this is!)

For a comedy, you might find it peculiar to have explosions and gunfire everywhere, like back in "Shoot 'Em Up". It's like a war film that intentionally goes wrong, so there you have it - a comedic war film. Maybe those "explosions" are meant to set a grande entrande of "Tropic Thunder" into the box office line up and sweep a few awards like "Best Comedy of the Year."

The opening scene for "Tropic Thunder" is definitely a good one but I won't spoil it for you. Suffice to say - yes, Ben Stiller and his platoon mates, Steve Coogan and his entire crew are actually making a film based on a book written by Vietnam War veteran Sgt. Four Leaf, played by Nick Nolte.

Some people might get sick to the stomach watching soldiers being blown up to pieces, blood gushing out like a fountain from heads and guts dangling out from bodies in the most painful way one could possibly imagine. It really is gross but those effects are good. To enjoy the movie deeper, you've also got to know a thing or two about Hollywood's all time favourite films like "Forest Gump", "I Am Sam" and many more A-list movies, so you won't be lost in the dialogue between the actors.

Also, when watching "Tropic Thunder", pay attention to a little kid of about 12 who plays a drug kingpin in Vietnam. For a child playing the head villain with a cigar in one hand and a bazooka in another, this kid is really good.

As for the message part, I think what the director is trying to get across is that it isn't easy being an actor, especially a good one. Anyone can be an actor but a good one is definitely hard to come by.

So now you've got to ask - do Vietnamese people speak Mandarin? Watch the movie.

Cinema Online, 21 October 2008