Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 26% (Critics) / 58% (Audience)
Directed By: McG
Written By: Timothy Dowling and Simon Kinberg
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox

Synopsis:The world’s deadliest CIA operatives are inseparable partners and best friends until they fall for the same woman. Having once helped bring down entire enemy nations, they are now employing their incomparable skills and an endless array of high-tech gadgetry against their greatest nemesis ever – each other. (Source)

The Good:
Chris Pine and Tom Hardy have a nice bromantic chemistry between them. The scenes where they are fighting and teaming up are the only times that THIS MEANS WAR pops.

The Bad:
McG is a terribly pedestrian director and his style over substance approach to movie-making works sometimes (the first CHARLIE’S ANGELS movie) but when it doesn’t work (like it doesn’t with this film) it just lays there doing nothing of worth like a shiny penny.

The Ugly:
Reese Witherspoon was unconvincing as a woman that two best friends would go to war over and the startling lack of romantic chemistry she sparked with Hardy and Pine makes me wonder how she made it past a table read with her two co-stars.

Final Verdict: THIS MEANS WAR is an action/romantic comedy movie that is not all that good at action and even less successful at the romance and comedy parts. Nice chemistry between the male leads stand out but mainly just as a means of drawing attention to how little chemistry the two men have with their leading lady.

Rating: D+