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This is a bad review of This Means War, but it’s also hilarious. I’ve highlighted the best bits. I have no idea what a ‘poetic stupor’ is, though…

The gut-whomping, high-concept romantic thriller This Means War is not a distinguished addition to director McG’s oeuvre. The puffy-lipped gay-bar pinups Chris Pine and Tom Hardy play best-bud CIA agents competing for Reese Witherspoon, who scrunches up her face, rolls her eyes, and shows off her curvy little twig of a body. (The most finely tuned calipers could find no adipose tissue on any of them.) On leave from his role as Captain Kirk, Pine loosens up his Shatner-esque mugging muscles, but Hardy uses his patented poetic stupor as a force field, as protection from jokes more bludgeoning than anything in Warrior.

David Edelstein does love him a bit of Hardy, though; he wrote this about him in TTSS:

[…]when Hardy wants something, you feel it: With his huge lips and tortured beauty, this young actor is among the most compelling of his generation […]

(Source: New York Magazine)

First official review of This Means War - it’s better than expected. From Total Film:

(Source: totalfilm.com)

(Source: New York Magazine)

Because I will admit to being a bit of a review lover, here’s an excerpt from another terrific one in the Spectator:

There is a level of detail and precision here that is incredible. There isn’t a single superfluous moment in the 127-minute running time. Even when the film drags, around the hour mark, it is only because the intricacies of the plot have to be set in place. Even then, it merely slows and remains compelling. The result is a superlative thriller – a film so compelling and tense that it gives us one of the most exciting scenes of the year in a totally still library.

Amid thrilling shootouts, grizzly killings and flashbacks of internecine warfare, Smiley is the heart of the story, and the film depends on Oldman’s performance. Had he failed the film would have failed with him, but he triumphs like a boxer landing every punch. Oldman allows the part to grow from its quiet beginnings, and often causes spine-tingles. His recollection of his meeting with Karla, his Soviet opposite number, is the outstanding moment of a performance that shall soon vie for countless awards.

Nevertheless, this film isn’t merely centred on a tour-de-force performance. It is a genuine ensemble piece, with a stellar cast. Colin Firth is alternately charming and creepy as Bill Hayden. Tom Hardy is brash and effective as Ricki Tarr. Mark Strong delivers another strong but understated portrayal as Jim Prideaux. Benedict Cumberbatch is quietly brilliant as Peter Guillam. John Hurt is raspingly excellent as Control. A cast to treasure give us performances to match.

Lots of praise for both Tom & Benedict in these reviews!

From a very VERY glowing review of TTSS (calling it near faultless):

A brooding atmosphere of espionage encapsulates the stunning performances of the ensemble cast. Gary Oldman’s lead as Smiley would steal the show were it not for Mark Strong, Tom Hardy and in particular Benedict Cumberbatch, whose turns as their respective characters are as close to perfect as conceivably possible. Wrapped in Alfredson’s chilling and collected visuals, the film is a gripping spectacle fuelled with fierce dialogue exchanges and calculated moments of tension and violence. Rarely do you see such an emphasis on the spoken word and the subtle facial expression – Alfredson allows his actors plenty of scope to perform their roles and it pays off tenfold, each portrayal oozes class. The screenplay is also surprisingly funny in parts, with numerous laughs dispersed throughout the first half.

And from another wonderfully positive review:

The rest of the cast deserve awards too. Amid the double-crosses, Kathy Burke’s nostalgic Basil Exposition and Mark Strong’s haunted schoolteacher offer a nice portion of pathos. But prizes must go to Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch. Hardy’s rogue agent, Ricki Tarr, delivers a romantic subplot with a jaw-smacking tenderness, while Cumberbatch almost steals the film from under Oldman’s nose with a superb heist scene. His charming, funny, and sexy turn holds the film together as much as Alberto Iglesias’s versatile, threatening score - after The Skin I Live In, that’s the second brilliant soundtrack the composer has thrown out this year.

Twittering praise for TTSS and Benny & Tommy. :)

heyuguysblog

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was wonderful. Dark and deliberate with Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy impressing most of all.

That’s true but we’ve seen Oldman do amazing work. Cumberbatch & Hardy have rarely been this good, or given so much to work with. 

Phil_on_Film

Hardy and Cumberbatch are probably the TTSS star turns, but it’s a great ensemble. Alfredson really nails the atmosphere too.

Some more reviews for TTSS. It’s interesting to see the reaction in non-English speaking countries as well.

This is glowing one from El Pais - the Spanish newspaper. Here’s a part where they single out Tom:

Around him move a host of characters trapped in [alambique de muros - I can’t figure out what that means!], and international intrigue coded telegrams, men with the faces of Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Hurt and- keep an eye on this man, the impressive Tom Hardy. Oldman’s character unravels the knot with the patience of one who knows that eventually the house of cards based will crumble and provides the basis for a wonderful movie that links to the European tradition (almost a genre in itself) of cinema of the cold war.

And this is from a German review:

Alfredson’s film seems fresh and new, which is surprising when one considers that it is precisely this work by le Carré’s which was already relatively common as the inspiration for prominent films. The best known is perhaps the British television series from the 80s. But Tomas Alfredson pursues its own ideas and visions with substance. As a Swede, he is also proving to be a remarkably accurate observer of British manners, so that Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is also gladly accepted as a highly entertaining and very intuitive behavioral study. Who would have thought that there it would be a Swede, whose vampire movie (Let the Right One In) caused quite a stir, to create one of the best and most entertaining lonely spy movies of recent times.

Another review of TTSS with a very nice mention of Tom:

There are multiple momentary pleasures to be had across this spread of Britain’s finest — the shivery dignity of Colin Firth’s final scene, or even the way Simon McBurney ostentatiously bites into a slice of toast — but it’s the ever-impressive Tom Hardy who, together with the aforementioned Burke, most memorably seizes his metered screen time, bringing the same louchely knowing intelligence to proceedings that he used to breathe air into last year’s Inception tempered with the darting fearfulness of a character who scarcely trusts his own words.

Alfredson was an inspired but sensitive choice to direct this potentially outmoded material, and his delicate mood-cultivating sensibility reaps the same rare rewards that it did in his previous hit. A classy throwback to the pleasures of long-view tale-spinning, and an evocation of a time and place fading before its occupants’ own eyes, this is as inactively riveting a thriller as anyone is allowed to make these days.

(Source: incontention.com)