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Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Til Schweiger, Chelsea Handler ... see more see more... , John Paul Ruttan , Abigail Spencer , Angela Bassett , Rosemary Harris , George Touliatos , Clint Carleton , Warren Christie , Leela Savasta , Natassia Malthe , Laura Vandervoort , Dominique Bourassa Brownes , Paul Wu , Daren A. Herbert , Kevin O'Grady , Jesse Reid , Viv Leacock , Jenny Slate , Kasey Ryne Mazak , Kevan Ohtsji , Blaine Patry , Aleks Paunovic , Joey Forfellow , Jakob Davies , Patrick Monroe , Elizabeth Weinstein , Ash Lee , Conrad Coates , Lauren Dowe , Lee Razavi , Affion Crockett , Jennifer Kitchen , Lossen Chambers , John Stewart , Jill Teed , Patrick Sabongui , Graeme Goodhall , Alex Pesusich , Che Pritchard , Louise Hradsky , Kirstyn Konig , Tyrell Witherspoon , Richard O'Sullivan , Jen Oleksiuk , Paul Becker , Allan H. Gray , Daruisz Slowick , Mike Dopud , Klodyne Rodney , Mason Brown , Thomas J. Potter , Desiree Zurowski , Fred Henderson , Mamie Laverock , Gretal Montgomery , Michael Papajohn , Arien Boey , Derek Waters , Mike Johnson , Panou

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 inco... read more read more...mparable skills and an endless array of high-tech gadgetry against their greatest nemesis ever - each other. -- (C) Fox

Flixster Users

64% liked it

65,158 ratings

Critics

25% liked it

160 critics

PG-13, 2 hr.

Directed by: McG

Release Date: February 14, 2012

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DVD Release Date: May 22, 2012

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Stats: 3,303 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (3,303)

  • allan913
    May 26, 2012
    allan913
    A sexy and stylish action-comedy. It`s swift, smart, outragious and wickedly enjoyable movie thats loaded with explosive action, crisp romance and great humor from start to finish. A perfect blend of a spy-action film mixed with romance and buddy comedy. A wildy hilarious and ext... read morereamly entertaining movie that you cant get enough of. Chris Pine and Tom Hardy are a dream team, they have wickedly good chemistry together and are a charming and awesome action duo. These guys are too much fun to watch, two great stars with lots of heart keep this film going strong. Reese Witherspoon is a delight, she and her two co-stars bring on loveable and fun romantic chemistry. A thrilling, slick, fall-down funny action romp. Director, McG`s best film yet. If you loved films like True Lies and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, This Means War is your tickett to a great time.
  • scottgreen96
    March 25, 2012
    scottgreen96
    Although it has a good cast, the film suffers from a weak characterization and plot, leaving nothing but a bit of comedy for the audience.
  • thmtsang
    March 24, 2012
    thmtsang
    Two best buddies who are CIA agents compete for the affections of the same girl. Young James Bond. I'm for team Hardy. He's more manly than baby face Chris Pine. Reese is very glam. Good cast. Funny rom com.
  • fb573414556
    March 11, 2012
    fb573414556
    Fun. Fun. Fun. An enjoyable two hours that didn't achieve greatness but never even tried too. It knew exactly what it was and was comfy with that, and so was I. Mix this sense of enjoyability with a few good laughs and positive atmoshere in the cinema and what do you get? Fun.
  • drcamyo
    March 6, 2012
    drcamyo
    Unfunny, poorly written and just plain lame. All of it is just wrong. The characters are messed up people, (Tom Hardy seems like a good guy at first but then the film seems to lose interest in trying to make him look good and goes for Chris Pine later in the movie.) These charac... read moreters are very one-dimensional. They tried to make this a mix of action and romance, but failed. It's a very forgettable movie.
  • jjnxn
    March 4, 2012
    jjnxn
    Cartoony romp has a slick surface but not much underneath. What it does have are three charming actors who work hard to buoy it with their personality and charisma. Tom Hardy and Chris Pine work well together actually their chemistry with each other is much stronger- than either ... read moreshare with their female co-star. Reese is ditzy and sweet but who ever was in charge of her hair should be ashamed, it looks distractingly like straw. The director's roots in music videos are painfully obvious and he does nothing to smooth out the many kinks in the borderline creepy plot. Wasted in nothing parts are Til Schweiger a good actor stuck in a standard villain part that must have been larger in the original script and Angela Bassett, a great actress in a stick figure part that is so far beneath her abilities it's a crying shame. Silly and painless you'll forget it as soon as it's over. All involved have made better films and will again.
  • katykern8261
    March 3, 2012
    katykern8261
    Directed by McG, 20th Century Fox, 2012.

    Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Angela Bassett, Rosemary Harris,Til Schweiger, Abigail Spencer and Chelsea Handler.

    Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance.

    Question: How would feel if a handsome British man, with a sul... read moretry accent, asked you out for a first date and wanted to meet you an Irish pub; AND then later that day you had an equally hot American man, with the sexiest blue eyes, hit on you in a DVD store while you were searching for a movie to rent? Well, I would think I had died and gone to heaven - TWICE!!

    I believe This Means War was made for ME! I mean, seriously, there are two hot guys with qualities that get me weak in the knees and then you mix in romance, humor and action; I am so there. However, I glanced at some of the reviews of this movie (which ripped the movie apart) and it sort of turned me off. Also, I had a feeling the preview showed WAY TOO MUCH. Well, I was right about the preview. Nearly every funny line Chelsea Handler's character had been already shown in the trailer; but I was wrong in thinking this was going to be a bad movie. Was it a great film? No, however, it was a fun movie that was worth the watch.

    The part that surprised me the most and why I enjoyed This Means War was due to one of the actors and their performance. No, I am not going to say Chris Pine, even though I am a fan of his, but Tom Hardy. I only recall seeing him in one other movie, Inception, which he was decent in but he didn't stand out to me. Now in this movie he was front and center and it made me want to see more of him. He plays a CIA agent named Tuck; a charmer with a heart of gold and in some of the scenes he was quite sexy in such an endearing way. I simply wasn't expecting that. He was why I liked this movie. His responses and reactions were just precious. And the movie was still pretty funny despite the trailer showing too many of the jokes.

    There were only four to five people in the theatre when I saw This Means War but each of us laughed out loud several times. The comedic chemistry between the two men worked and it worked well. Chris Pine and Tom Hardy looked like they had a blast with their characters and it showed on-screen. Their relationship is what also made this movie enjoyable.

    Now on the flip-side, the women were the disappointment in this movie. First, I will admit I am not a fan of Chelsea Handler, and I just don't see her appeal or get her sense of humor so I was a little biased on that casting choice. Second, Reese Witherspoon's and Chelsea Handler's characters were apparently best friends but there wasn't any real chemistry between them. Finally, the character Reese Witherspoon played was just kind of boring that I ended up not really caring all that much about her or her dilemma.

    Another part that didn't work for me for this film had to be the editing or the overall care the film-makers took on the movie. It seemed rushed or an amateur attempt at telling a story. There were some good parts but something just seemed missing as a whole package.

    So with all that said, the men made This Means War worth it for me. Perhaps a male reviewer might have a different interpretation. But, honestly, their characters were just more developed and better acted. (Okay, okay, they were both not hard to look at for two hours. Fine, I will admit it!)

    My favorite thing: Tom Hardy was a delight.

    My least favorite thing: The editing and Chelsea Handler - although when she wasn't going for a laugh she was pretty good.

    Rating: R
    Length: 97 minutes

    Review: 5 out of 10
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    March 2, 2012
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "It's SPY against SPY."

    Two top CIA operatives wage an epic battle against one another after they discover they are dating the same woman.

    REVIEW

    This Means War is an action romance with paint... read more by numbers action and totally implausible romance. Although the love triangle consists of improbably beautiful characters, their love war lacks the minimum fire and wit of the worst Judd Apatow comedy. The triangle is less interesting than in Twilight or Les Miserables but just about as humorless. The war motif turns out to be too warlike-surprisingly unromantic.

    Even in Apatow there is some semblance of reality such as bachelor partying in Vegas, but in This Means War no single scene rings true from a government agent living in an apartment with a swimming pool, and accompanying babes, above the glass of the hallway to using government equipment to spy on a romantic rival. Agents FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy), best friends who sit at desks across from each other, unknowingly date the same eligible lady, Lauren (Reese Witherspoon). Their competition, once they find out about the sharing, is characterized by adolescent reactions and high-tech snooping, none of which is either funny or smart. Director McG places an image of Redford and Newman as Butch and Sundance on a screen to let us know the buddy film is alive and well. However, Pine and Hardy do not have the same chemistry or lines although they are in the competition with the iconic stars for good looks.

    The clichéd subplot has the two agents pursuing foreign bad guy Heinrich (Til Schweiger, a European star relegated to looking very mean and nothing else) on a case assigned by a very angry Collins (Angela Bassett in a thanklessly grumpy role). When they all meet up (including Lauren), the usual car chase ensues with the usually improbable results. Not even the over-the-top effects and quips help in this formulaic denouement. Although allowance for absurdity should always be made in fantasies like this, some semblance of reality is necessary for the audience to be able to laugh at their own fallible humanity through the characters. Not here does it happen.
  • jlewis07
    March 1, 2012
    jlewis07
    A harmless piece of fluff that does nothing substantially well, but offers 2 hours of decent entertainment if you turn your brain off enough and enjoy some popcorn with it. It's fairly predictable (apparently I turned my brain off too much going in because I missed a few things l... read moreeading up to the "pick" between the two leading men", but I didn't mind too much), but the thing that bothered me was that the best part was Tom hardy and Chris Pine vying for Reese Witherspoon's affection and they had to shoehorn a ridiculously stupid CIA plot to go with it. That plot was boring and stupid. You would rather see Hardy and Pine go back and forth at each other. No one gives an outstanding performance, but I didn't see anything bad either. It's your typical McG action comedy, which means you'll watch it and enjoy a little bit of it in the moment, then forget about it the next day. Nothing that's really wrong with that... I guess.
  • fb100000145236770
    February 26, 2012
    fb100000145236770
    "This Means War" is an interesting and quasi fresh romantic comedy. It's about to CIA operatives who begin to date the same girl, and have a "gentlemen" competition to see who she likes more. Chris Pine and Tom Hardy star as the two fighting over Reese Witherspoon. The three o... read moref them are perfect, and make the movie entertaining. Especially Hardy, he is a real star in the making. The issue I have with the movie is the direction and the way it's all put together. It's kind of rushed in spots, and they have this side story with bad guys that doesn't really flesh out, and could have been dropped altogether. Whenever the movie veers away from the love triangle, is when it is at it's worst. Luckily it gets back on track, with some "meh"action scenes, and offers a good conclusion. Men and women will both like it, probably not love it, but it is entertaining.

View All This Means War Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore
March 23, 2012
Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

It's a brisk sprint over familiar ground with just enough appeal to action addicts and romantic-comedy lovers to amuse fans of both genres. Full Review

Anthony Lane
February 21, 2012
Anthony Lane, New Yorker

The director is McG, who allows no motion to pass without a musical energy boost. Full Review

Colin Covert
February 17, 2012
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"This Means War" is the worst McG film yet. And good Lord, that is saying something. Full Review

Peter Rainer
February 17, 2012
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

The best you can say about This Means War is that it would make a good date movie for couples in the witness protection program. Full Review

Laremy Legel
February 17, 2012
Laremy Legel, Film.com

Slides by on the strength of Tom Hardy. Full Review

Richard Roeper
February 17, 2012
Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com

And we have our first lock for the Worst of the Year list. Full Review

Linda Barnard
February 17, 2012
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star

Not even cutie-pie Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon can hold our attention for long in this ridiculous, bombastic romance. Full Review

Wesley Morris
February 17, 2012
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

You can imagine how the ball got rolling on "This Means War.'' You can also imagine how the folks who rolled the ball started to lose their minds. Full Review

Liam Lacey
February 17, 2012
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

It's a bad sign when a film which aims only for froth can't achieve more than moments of embarrassment, punctuated with sporadic agitation. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
February 17, 2012
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

Proves to be little more than the canned Spam of the movie world - bland, over-processed and cheap, even when it's spending millions engulfing highways in balls of ludicrous flame. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Ivan: You slept with my wife!
    • Tuck: Sometimes he used mud and sticks...and if he didn't have a stick he would use his...
    • FDR Foster: I don't believe in mistakes.
    • FDR Foster: I don't think it heated up fast enough. Like something was wrong with the motor, maybe the spark was dead.
    • Lauren: Actually sir, there's nothing wrong with the spark. Some people think grills just burst into flames at the slightest touch. It doesn't work like that.
    • FDR Foster: Falling is the best part.
    • Trish: Don't choose the better man, choose the man who makes you a better woman.
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  • This is a quote from which film -"War is a continuation of politics by other means."?   Answer »
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