How to make ‘Tropic Thunder 2’ work in the 2020s
Exactly 15 years ago today, Tropic Thunder was released to unsuspecting audiences and simultaneously defined and changed the cinematic comedy landscape forever. Helmed by Ben Stiller, who also stars in it and had developed the project for several years with screenwriters Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen, this 2008 comedy was an outrageous, audacious and bombastic comedy that almost certainly wouldn’t get made today for several reasons. And yet, if Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise gets what he wants (which is usually the case), we may see Tropic Thunder 2 very soon.
The original followed a group of prima-donna actors, each afflicted with their own insecurities, obsessions and addictions, who are making Tropic Thunder, a Vietnam War film based on the memoir of war veteran Sergeant Four Leaf and directed by a neurotic Englishman called Damian Cockburn (played hilariously by Steve Coogan). Unable to keep his unruly actors under control, Cockburn desperately seeks help from Four Leaf, who suggests a taste of the “real jungle” might nudge the talent into submission and give Tropic Thunder a raw, guerilla-style feel.
An absurd plan is hatched: to fly the actors into a jungle rigged with hidden cameras and pyrotechnics, creating an immersive experience that should yield a more exciting movie. There’s a problem, though – they’re accidentally dropped into an active combat zone, The Golden Triangle – roughly one million square kilometres in Southeast Asia, which serves as the most significant production area of opium in the world.
A ludicrous caper follows, part Vietnam war-movie parody and part satire on Hollywood and self-important, pompous actors. Leading the show is Tugg Speedman (played by Ben Stiller), Jeff Portnoy (played by Jack Black) and last but not least, Kirk Lazarus (played by Robert Downey Jr). Each is a hilarious stereotype of a certain type of actor. Speedman is the waning Vin Diesel-esque action hero looking to reclaim his relevance. Portnoy is a drug-addled, Eddie Murphy-style comedian actor known for playing multiple parts in his toilet-humour franchise, The Fatties, seeking to transition to more serious territory. Then there’s Lazarus, the ultimate embodiment of the pretentious method actor, based on the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis and Marlon Brando, who has taken his commitment to acting so insanely far that he’s taken on the role of a black soldier and spends the entire film in blackface, speaking in a stereotypical African American accent.
Even for 2008, it was incredibly risqué, but thanks to the combined efforts of Stiller’s deft direction, Downey Jr’s earnest performance and the support of several prominent Black comedians, actors and journalists at the time, including the movie’s own Brandon T. Jackson, who plays the rapper-cum-actor, “Alpa Chino”, the film was a smashing success – with particular acclaim lauded over Downey Jr. In 2023, however, it’s understandable that modern audiences take issue with it, which begs the question…
How can you make Tropic Thunder 2 work in the 2020s?
The first important thing to note is that Downey Jr’s role wasn’t funny in and of itself, but because of what it represented. The filmmakers weren’t inviting us to laugh at someone donning blackface but rather at how dumb and self-absorbed an actor could be to think that it was appropriate in the first place. This spotlight on the inherent absurdity of actors, particularly in Hollywood, was critical to the first Tropic Thunder’s success, and it is absolutely crucial that it’s maintained for a potential sequel.
Beyond the blackface, there was also the use of the utterly antiquated term ‘retarded’, which we all now know to be reductive and outright rude. “You never go full retard” was a recurring line in the film – 15 years ago, it straddled the line of being boundary-pushing humour and offensive. Still, clearly, now it would be totally unacceptable. So, obviously, a reliance on toying with offensive themes is off the cards. That stuff just won’t play well this decade and for good reason too. But this isn’t a problem – it simply shows what aspects of the original Tropic Thunder the sequel would need to lean more heavily into.
One of the smartest things the movie did was incorporate fake trailers, products and commercials into the narrative. Not only did it give Stiller and his team an excuse to make an obscenely funny trailer for the likes of Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown, but it also established a concrete sense of satirical world-building. This was the film’s biggest strength. In fact, the most offensive aspects of the movie were merely extensions of it; Lazarus’ use of blackface and Speedman’s insistence on playing a “retarded” character were wholly ironic depictions of just how ludicrous the entertainment industry could be. Fifteen years later, with The Apprentice‘s Donald Trump gaining the presidency and the Kardashians utterly dominating the media landscape, the writers behind Tropic Thunder 2 have ample fodder.
The original had already placed a significant emphasis on celebrities trying to regain relevance and stay current; what screams that more than a bunch of actors on Zoom singing ‘Imagine’ during a global pandemic? Or an ageing Hollywood A-lister posting a TikTok dance? They chose to make Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown the seventh instalment in a franchise because it seemed absurdly funny that such a series would ever have seven movies. Yet, the Fast & Furious franchise just released its eleventh project. The torture porn series Saw just got a trailer for its tenth iteration.
Tropic Thunder was funny because of how bitingly satirical and astute it was, not because of how offensive it tried to be. All you need to do to make sure Tropic Thunder 2 succeeds in our modern era of cinema is stick to that formula and poke fun at the insanity of the film business. Luckily, it’s more insane now than it ever was. I, for one, would happily line up to buy a ticket for a sequel and see how they incorporate new trends, new technology and, most importantly, new ways for celebrities to embarrass themselves in this decade. Wouldn’t you?
