MACGRUBER / ***

Distributor: Universal
Release Date: May 21, 2010
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 88 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

The history of Saturday Night Live skits turned into movies is sketchy, to say the least. This is the eleventh film to originate from the long-running TV show, and really only three of them have been good – “The Blues Brothers” (1980), “Wayne’s World” (1992), and “Wayne’s World 2” (1993). Incidentally these are also the first three films. Since then it’s been a string of clunker after clunker: “Coneheads” (1993), “It’s Pat” (1994), “Stuart Saves His Family” (1995), “A Night at the Roxbury” (1998), “Blues Brothers 2000” (1998), “Superstar” (1999), and “The Ladies Man” (2000). Ouch.

I admit that I haven’t regularly watched Saturday Night Live, or really watched it at all, for about a decade. The last time I remember actually sitting down to watch an episode was the first time The Rock hosted. So I was not at all familiar with the “MacGruber” sketches, but the trailer, along with the presence of a half dozen WWE superstars was enough to get me interested.

“MacGruber” is a spoof film that knows what a spoof film is. Unlike recent spoofs like the “[Blank] Movie” series that just badly reshoots scenes from popular films with no rhyme or reason, “MacGruber” takes on an entire genre – the ‘80s action film.

Will Forte stars as the title character, an American hero and supposed bomb diffusing expert. He has been supposed dead for the last 10 years by everyone, including his arch nemesis Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer). MacGruber failed to get revenge on Von Cunth for murdering his wife Casey (Maya Rudolph) on their wedding day.

He gets an opportunity from Col. James Faith (Powers Boothe) and Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe). They tell him that a nuclear warhead has been hijacked, and Von Cunth is believed to be behind it. MacGruber is convinced to come out of retirement and put together a team (WWE Superstars Big Show, MVP, The Great Khali, Kane, Chris Jericho, and Mark Henry). Unfortunately he accidentally blows that team up, so it’s just him, Piper, and the lovely Vickie St. Elmo (Kristin Wiig).

Parts of “MacGruber” are very funny, while some other parts miss the mark. But what makes the film at least moderately successful is that the writers not only know the genre they’re spoofing, but they also love it. I’m sure the casting of Val Kilmer (who starred in the 1984 classic spoof films as “Top Secret!”) was no accident.

Forte is hit-and-miss as the character might not be quite funny enough to sustain a whole movie. Thankfully Wiig is her usual hilarious self, and Phillippe makes a great straight man. While it is no means a classic, “MacGruber” delivers enough laughs to be a pleasant little surprise.

Theater: RDM Westroads 14, Omaha, NE
Time: 1110 pm
Date: May 29, 2010

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON / ***½

Distributor: Paramount (DreamWorks)
Release Date: March 26, 2010
Genre: Animation
Running Time: 98 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG

In the somewhat checkered history of DreamWorks Animation (I’m looking at you “Shark Tale,” “Shrek,” and “Madagascar”), the latest release from Pixar’s primary competition rests comfortably at the top of their filmography, right alongside “Kung Fu Panda,” “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” and “Chicken Run.”

The story is fairly simple, but is told with admirable wit and style. Jay Baruchel (his second starring role from March) stars as Hiccup, a young Viking who doesn’t exactly fit the mold his fearsome warrior father Stoick (Gerard Butler) does.

The entire Viking population is concerned with killing dragons. Hiccup has been densied dragon killing training because his disapproving father doesn’t think he can handle it. All of the other Viking children are the typically aggressive, grunting brutes. There’s Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and twins Tuffnut (T.J. Miller) and Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig). The best and smartest fighter is Astrid (America Ferrera); she’s also the object of Hiccup’s desire. They all train with the grizzled old Gobber (Craig Ferguson in show-stealing vocal performance).

All their lives, the Vikings have operated under the idea that dragons are dangerous and out to get them, and must be killed. The vilest dragon of all is called the Night Fury, a dragon that cannot be seen at night and causes massive destruction everywhere it goes. Hiccup vows to be the first Viking to ever kill one, thinking it would impress his father. He claims to have done it before, but no evidence has ever been found.

The plot kicks into motion when Hiccup finally does take one down. However, he is unable to finish the job and leaves the dragon alive. After some initial trepidation on both sides, both Hiccup and the Dragon, which he names Toothless, realize that neither are violent by nature. Hiccup discovers that the bigger problem was not training the dragon, but re-training the Vikings. The story follows a traditional arc but the characters are likable enough and the 3D effects are extremely well done, probably second only to “Avatar.”

“How to Train Your Dragon” is a tremendously entertaining film that presents a solid message for the kids. The actors all do a great job making their characters stand out in a somewhat crowded field. You know it’s good when I don’t completely hate Gerard Butler.

After grosses over $180 million, a sequel was recently announced. It is scheduled for release in 2013.

Theater: RDM Westroads 14, Omaha, NE
Time: 145 pm
Date: April 21, 2010