Thanks for checkout out our Drillbit Taylor review. Let me say this right up front. Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow ought to be ASHAMED of themselves for this pathetic, boring, laughless and shameless Superbad carbon copy movie they’ve put out. Shame on them. My respect level for each of them has taken a serious hit. Now back to the review.
This film was produced BEFORE the infamous Owen Wilson suicide attempt, and obviously the studio thought it wise that they hold off on the release of the film for a while. Good move. What would have been an even better move is if they decided to scrap the film altogether. Let me be clear… this movie sucks. It’s horrible.
THE GENERAL IDEA
3 freshmen high school student (who are exact carbon copies of McLovin, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera) enter high school only to be confronted by the brutal world of bullies who like to pick on new kids. They endure several humiliations and then decide they should look to hire a body guard. Through a lucky (or unlucky) circumstance they come across a homeless man (Owen Wilson) who poses as an elite bodyguard to the stars just so he can have a paying gig. Drillbit pretends to be a high school subsitute teacher so he can keep a close eye on the kids and hillarity ensues right? Right?!?!?! Ummm… no.
THE GOOD
There was one joke at the end of the film where Wilson catches a flying sword. That made me giggle. It was the only time I giggled the entire run time of this ass awful movie.
Leslie Mann is hot, and she has great comedic timing so she’s always fun to see… sadly she had nothing to work with in this crap.
THE BAD
First of all… it’s not funny in the least. You can get away with almost any failure in a comedy movie as long as you still make people laugh. This movie was pathetically unfunny.
As I said in the opening, Seth Rogen should be totally ashamed of himself for writing this garbage… but not just because it’s so bad. The three kid characters are EXACT CARBON COPIES OF THE SUPERBAD GUYS… just in grade 9. You have your Jonah Hill character (the shorter, fat, curly dark haired more eccentric guy). You have your Michael Cera character (the taller, more level headed yet still geeky one). And you have your McLovin character (shorter, extra nerdy… the Cera Charcter thinks he’s fine but the Hill character thinks he’s too nerdy even for them to hang out with but then warms up to him at the end). I was totally repulsed by this. I even remember thinking a few minutes into the film “Wow… all they need now is a McLovin character”, and just a few minutes later… BAM!!!! He shows up! Sad sad sad.
Everything was bad.
OVERALL
I just can’t think of anything redeemable to say about this pathetic, self-plagarized piece of cinematic refuse. I hated this movie. Overall I give Drillbit Taylor a 1 out of 10. It’s just that bad.
I just saw it. 1 is being generous.
Hey James,
I’m blaming Seth Rogen because he wrote the script… and it’s a horrible script. Just because “he’s awesome” doesn’t change the fact that it was a horrible script.
why the hell are you blaming seth Rogen he’s awesome and c’mon along came polly was worse than this but i think you maybe under rating this movie
If you go into the movie expecting any kind of reality, I would say that disappointment will most likely follow. This movie had some funny moments but it is one that I would save for the DVD release.
Mark Salinas, MN
This movie was good i could say that it was predictable but i think we all know that. The films comedy wasnt really that funny its the stuff children would laugh at or those people who will crack up over some one getting hit in the nuts for the 20th time will laugh at.
This movie is more the kind ill wait until it is cheap over night or weekly.
It is good for preteens.
5/10
I thought the little fat kid was really funny. He thought he was going to get shot like Tupac and his lyrics were going to sky rokcket. The whole movie was awesome.
Ok who is the kid standing waiting for the bus with the other guy. Is was very short and i think had black or brown hair does anyone know who is is and what his real name is please find out for me.
well if expecting a comedy to have an actual laugh in it is expecting too much then I guess we were.
The film is awful.
and again I ask….how come when an apatow produced film hits big he is the king of comedy and has the midas touch yet when he churns out a fucking stinker like this he doesn’t get the blame?
having said that I saw forgetting sarah marshall yesterday and it totally redeems this garbage. Its very very funny. But I still don’t get the obsession some have with whats her face bell….shes fine and all but hardly a stoand out blow you away performer….but that russell brand guy is going to start popping up in a lot of films…..
I think you were expecting way too much from this film. It wasn’t aimed at making 40 year old men laugh, it was aimed at making kids laugh, and as such is a pretty successful film. It was Superbad-type characters aimed at a younger audience. I don’t see the problem. Plenty of films bring out shocking sequels with the exact same characters and you wouldn’t give those 1/10 for lacking originality.
I couldn’t agree more with your review. I saw this movie on a whim one night when I had nothing to do for once and had never heard of the movie. Needless to say, I hated it and it was a complete waste of my free evening.
Gotta say I love this blog and try to check out the reviews on here before seeing anything. I’ve learned my lesson!
john always gets a lot of flak for his opinions because sometimes they are completely insane…
However he is spot on with this one…
drillbit taylor was fucking awful. absolutely terrible. how come apatow gets all the praise when something hits yet I don’t see his name being bandied about with this fucking stinker…..he got more praise for superbad than the fucking director did yet here we are with 2 bombs in a row (lets not forget walk hard stiffing) and apatow isn’t getting the same amount of blame as he doies praise when a film hits??
surely its a two way street…john you and I definitely disagree on about 99.9% of things but I am glad to see you bring apatows connection with this film up.
turns out he doesn’t have a full proof midas touch when it comes to comedy after all.
Hey John,
As I’ve said before, I don’t agree with you on a lot of stuff but you never fail to make it interesting – that’s why I love the site. However, I honestly think that Space Wars analogy you made is a bit extreme and you’re kind of just grasping there.
I honestly am not bugged by the fact that the characters are carbon copies of the ones in Superbad.
If Seth Rogan DOES indeed base his characters on himself and his friends in different movies, then it’s no surprise that they’re almost exactly alike. I see no problem with that – obviously the dude has fond memories of his childhood. Besides, if the characters work in one movie by the dude, why wouldn’t they work in another movie by him? Especially since they’re based on him/friends, it’s what he apparently likes to write, and according to the above post, this movie is a prequel of sorts to Superbad.
I don’t really see a problem here.
And word about being in the minority. ;D
Hey NBA,
Yeah, but being right usually means you’re in the minority. ;)
Hey NBA Kid,
No, it really isn’t the same at all. Apatow makes the same KIND of comedies all the time, and that’s fine, but the don’t so blatantly self-plagarize and recycle the exact same characters.
Sorry, but this isn’t “small” you have the exact same three characters, with the exact same relationship who all also look the same as the Superbad group… all from the same writer. It’s pathetic and inexcusable.
It’s like George Lucas making another Sci Fi movie called “Space Wars” with characters like:
San Holo – A rugged space smuggler
Jake Windrider – An innocent farmer boy with a power and a destiny
The Princess – She’s all the leader of a rebellion
Is it me or has John been getting a lot of flak lately for some of his opinions?
Just an observation.
John – so what if the characters are the same as in a previous movie? That’s like blaming an author for making the same types of books or having a series about a particular character.
Is Rogan supposed to make completely separate/new/unrelated movies EVERY time?
I haven’t seen the movie but I have read a lot about what Paramount Pictures has decided to do with the marketing of the film after Owen Wilson’s very public suicide attempt. A major concern was that people would have a hard time laughing at the jokes knowing all the while of Wilson’s personal struggles.
Maybe Paramount’s latest concern is that people hate the film…at least I`ll be spared of the experience as a result of the countless awful reviews I`ve read.
http://moviemarketingangeline.blogspot.com/
I’ve heard Seth Rogan mention that this movie is almost a prequel for Superbad, that explains the similar main characters. I haven’t seen it yet though (this looks like more of a download than a theater worthy flick) but I can’t imagine it being a 1 out of 10 in a world where the Wayans Brothers are still making movies, not unless your rating scale includes negative numbers.
DivineShadow: watch dahrjeen (spelling?) limited. i thought it was definitly worth watching.
This movie wasn’t terrible. There were a few decent gags here and there. No, I wasn’t in hysterics, but I wasn’t cringing or finding it to be utterly terrible on the scale of Meet The Spartans.
As for the characters being similar to Superbad… so what? It’s not like Rogen has ripped off someone else, he’s using his own life as inspiration. So it’s not a big deal. Plenty of directors, actors and writers have certain things similar in all their films. The age difference of the characters meant they were different from Superbad in their behaviour.
Just my opinion, but I think you made too much of a big deal out of that aspect of the film. If you really didn’t find it funny, I can’t argue that with you. But I don’t think it was as completely terrible as you made it sound.
I went and saw the movie on a date.
It wasn’t great but it wasn’t total crap.
4/10
I honestly thought the trailer for this film was really funny.
I just think Campea doesn’t like most comedy films, as most of the comedy films I’ve seen and liked he hasn’t. Or we just have drastically different tastes.
However, I’ll reserve judgment until I see this.
@ John:
No. A movie aimed at 11-14 year olds DOES need to be viewed differently than a movie aimed at an older crowd or a movie aimed at extremely young children for that matter. Just like I think High School Musical is shit and boring, but looking at it as it is aimed at young tweenagers, I recognize how well made it actually is. I imagine you would agree with this. Once again, I am unsure why I am defending this movie, other than I just found some of your reasoning very silly.
You really think AvP2 and Untraceable are THAT much better than this? And lastly, the parallels between this and Superbad are not nearly as rampant as you suggest.
But okay, I don’t really have anything more to say, I guess. I don’t really want to get into a debate over Drillbit Taylor.
Drillbit was funnier than semi pro ? Oh they were comedies?
Owen’ really hasn’t had a good film in years. I don’t know how this guy can pick out such crap scripts. (Dude put down the medical maraguwanna).
I really enjoy when a film like THIS bombs hard and makes no money. Haha!
John, I didn’t know you giggle like a girl! Don’t you mean chuckle? ;p
Anyway I saw it over the weekend and agree it wasn’t great. The whole film actually reminded me of the bully episode in Freaks & Geeks.
Lesson learned today: hunt down 1982’s “My Bodyguard” w/ Matt Dillion.
john: different strokes, i suppose.
Yes, bring on the rage!!!
See, this is why we need video reviews again Mr Campea. I want to see your rage.
Hey Miles,
You said:
“people just can’t see past some of the similarities with superbad”
No… I couldn’t see past the fact that nothing in it was funny or ever made me laugh.
i think you are way off base, drill bit taylor was definetly funnier then semi pro.
people just can’t see past some of the similarities with superbad which frankly do not even run that deep.
DAYUM!
It’s THAT bad? It looks like poop, but man, THAT bad?
Hey Jonathan,
“It’s what they were trying to do” is a lame excuse for any filmmaker. Just because you aim for crap, and archive it, doesn’t mean it’s anything other than crap. It’s still crap. For any age, at any time, it’s crap.
Aiming it for 11-14 olds doesn’t change the fact that it’s crap
Basing characters on the same ones you’ve already done is inexcusable and also doesn’t change the fact that it’s crap
Being a “tamed down” version of another movie doesn’t change the fact that it’s crap.
This movie was without laughs, without integrity, and totally without originality. not funny in the least and nothing but a half efforted, lazy capitalization on a previous successful work.
I stand by my 1 out of 10. I’m glad you got more out of it for your money than I did.
Obviously, this movie wasn’t that good, but a 1/10? Give me a break. Save that for dreck like Meet the Spartans. In the movies defense:
a) It was obviously aimed at a younger, male crowd, probably 11-14 year old boys.
b) As such, I found this to be basically a “tamed down” version of Superbad. Since 11-14 kids should probably not be watching Superbad (or well, many probably aren’t even allowed), this provides them a safer, less raunchy and dirty alternative, yet with enough swearing and sex jokes to make them feel “cool” for watching it.
c) DUH that the characters are closely related to those in Superbad. Like you mentioned, Seth Rogen co-wrote this. Seth Rogen STATED that these characters, just like the characters in Superbad, were based on he and his friends. It wasn’t as though they were trying to hide this.
It’s bad and not very funny, but it’s not terrible and for the audience it’s aimed for, I’m sure it accomplishes what they wanted. 5/10 is a fair score for it.
Hopefully Owen Failson will read this review, and do what needs to be done, i.e. His best Kurt”no Brain”Cobain impression.