This is trouble - Blu-Ray

Film: The name McG does not necessarily stand for highbrow, sophisticated entertainment cinema. Directorial efforts like 3 Angels for Charlie and Terminator Salvation had some showmanship, but were rather soulless in content. Now McG, who is also a producer for popular TV series like Supernatural or Chuck, tries his hand at an action-comedy with a romantic touch. And even if you shouldn't expect any depth of content or logic, the whole thing works pleasingly well.

In the center of Das gibt Ärger are the two CIA agents and best friends FDR Foster (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy), who have disregarded many a rule during their last mission and have therefore been condemned to desk duty. Time to take care of the interpersonal issues for a change. And as luck would have it, Cupid hits both men right in the heart. Too bad the friends have a crush on the same woman, product tester Lauren (Reese Witherspoon). Since Lauren has no idea that her two admirers know each other, FDR and Tuck want to give her the choice and agree to vie for the favor of the beautiful Lauren by fair means. But of course, the two soon break the agreement, used all their charm and even CIA equipment to conquer the heart of the beloved. And it soon becomes clear: This is trouble...

This is pure fun cinema. This is not about carefully crafted characters, in-depth dialogue or even comprehensible logic. This is solely about keeping the viewer thoroughly entertained for 90 minutes, and McG has really accomplished that mission satisfactorily. The few action sequences at the beginning and at the end of the film are staged in a fast-paced manner, but even in between there is not a moment of boredom. Because the love duel spy against spy is full of numerous amusing ideas that provide really good laughs again and again. In particular, a scene on a paintball parkour is undoubtedly one of the comedic highlights of the film.

That the film works is primarily due to the good chemistry between the main actors. Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Tom Hardy (Inception, Dark Knight Rises) are seen as FDR and Tuck's close friendship, which adds to the entertainment value of the increasingly absurd duels. Like the two, Reese Witherspoon acts as the object of desire with obvious relish. Both in the rather romantic moments between Lauren and Tuck, as well as during the verbal battles between her and FDR, crackling with sexual tension, one can understand as a viewer quite why this woman has turned the heads of two seasoned CIA agents.

Good, the villain embodied by Til Schweiger is turned out too one-dimensional, which is not due to Schweiger's motionless facial expressions, but simply to the stereotypically written role. The explosive finale also bristles a little too obviously at the laws of logic. But the film's fun factor is only marginally diminished by these and other minor flaws. This is trouble is entertaining popcorn cinema with lots of amusing ideas, good-humored actors and some nice action interludes. A little romantic comedy, a little agent thriller and a lot of good humour - this is definitely no trouble, just fun! Worth seeing!!

The Extended Version: Who hopes for more action, will be disappointed here. Besides a new James Bond-style title sequence, the seven additional minutes consist primarily of a longer scene in which FDR introduces Lauren to his family. The film is not really changed or enriched by this.

Picture + Sound: The technical realization is on a very good level. The picture is absolutely clean, the image sharpness is on a high level and also color mixing, contrasts and black levels can convince. The sound really lets it rip in the action scenes and makes good use of the surround channels. But also in the quieter, dialogue-heavy scenes there is nothing to complain about the German 5.1 DTS mix. Very good!

Extras: In addition to the extended film version, the Blu-ray has some additional extras to offer. Starting off there is an audio commentary by director McG, who is delightfully candid about the strengths as well as the weaknesses of his film. A lively and interesting commentary that is undoubtedly the highlight of the bonus material.

Continues with an epilogue of sorts, a conditionally fun video of Lauren's bachelorette party (about 4 min.). There are also a whole three alternative film endings (approx. 7 mins), only one of which can actually be called truly alternative in the broadest sense, as well as an alternative film opening pre-animation, six cut scenes (approx. 15 mins) and a couple of amusing outtakes (approx. 4 mins). Disappointingly, the Blu-ray doesn't have any real making of material to offer. For a recent major production, this is really quite disappointing, even if the rest of the extras are entertaining and worth watching.

Conclusion: This Gives Trouble is pure fun cinema that doesn't even try to hide its claim to entertainment behind any pretensions. The good-humored actors and some very amusing ideas comfort then also over dramaturgical weaknesses. If you're just looking for entertaining popcorn cinema with lots of action, humor and romance, you'll get your money's worth here. The film presents itself on the Blu-Ray not only in very good technical implementation, but also in two different versions. However, the extended version enriches the whole only marginally. The bonus material is the only really disappointing aspect of the disc, but that shouldn't keep you from buying it. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp