Wild Hogs Review
After nineteen long years and a constant bombardment of Tubi advertisements for it on my television’s home screen, I knew it was finally time for a rewatch of the classic movie Wild Hogs. In the spring of 2007, I remember heading straight to our local theater right after school and uproariously laughing for roughly a hundred minutes at crass situational comedic scenes that included a chubby guy singing pop songs in a flamboyant manner. Unfortunately, I knew this second cinematic experience in the spring of 2026 would lack a few of the comforting aspects from my first watch: my childhood best friend to giggle at these immature jokes with (to be fair they were top-notch knee-slappers for a couple of eleven-year olds), the reclining seats of the Camp Hill Cinema Center, and the most salient issue, it’s no longer 2007.
Given my age at the time of its release, I never understood why it was critically panned. Four horsemen of the silver screen converging for a cross-country motorcycle trip of hijinks and hilarity has to titillate even the harshest of critics. About fifteen minutes in, I started to understand the critics’ objections. Still, with so much changing in our world just in the last decade, I attempted to improve my revisit by transporting my brain back to the spring of 2007 with thoughts that one might have ruminate in their head around the same time.
“Wow! This sturdy economy should allow everyone’s parents to afford them all the frivolous accessories one can purchase on Club Penguin, Circuit City sells me my type of bling bling in the form of $20 DVDs, The Apprentice is a hilarious show with quite the entertaining host, and the Governator is a BAMF! But what the crap is going on with Britney Spears? Hopefully, her father will strategize a supportive way to aid Brit during her time of need.”
Instantaneously, I started to notice changes in my outlook. No longer was I bothered by granny innuendos or the dad rock that engulfed the copious number of b-roll riding shots. However, despite my best efforts at mind travel, I forgot to recall the most vital 2007 components required to properly appreciate this movie’s comedic stylings: same-sex marriage is illegal in most states, everything not manly is gay, and guys who greet each other with any physical contact beyond a high five are queers. The inundation of fragile masculinity and gay panic humor tropes scattered throughout the film made it a more challenging watch than I recalled. It felt like the indolent writers plucked at the low-hanging fruit just to increase the movie’s runtime with hacky situational bits. “Look at these guys sharing an air mattress or riding the same bike together! They’ll likely be perceived as homosexuals by the background characters! What a hoot!” At least the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition scene during the credits blended the 2007 cultural zeitgeist and humor together well to produce arguably the funniest part of the movie without making anyone an unnecessary target.
The straight fragility portions of Wild Hogs were rough, but the filler scenes definitely take the cake as worst offender of sad unfunny humor. They all boil down to basically one of the main characters either getting hit in the nards, crashing their motorcycle, or committing an unamusing cringe-inducing act amongst strangers.
The acting was commendable in that the main cast didn’t phone it in, at least not to the degree I was expecting. This movie along with his 2009 film Old Dogs with Robin Williams likely murdered the last vestiges of the coolness John Travolta gained from Pulp Fiction. Still, he played the 2007 middle-aged separated man well. Martin Lawrence did a good job being more than just Token Black Friend. His performance may have earned a future Big Momma’s House Ev Dog Blog review. William H. Macy’s effort with the script should earn all watchers’ reverence as his literal ass-out performance of a sad sack consistently stole scenes in an endearing manner despite his character’s actions often consisting of predictable awkwardness and incompetence. Unfortunately, no quintessential Tim Allen noises appeared in the movie, but he does sport a pocket chain, which was definitely one of the more memorable aspects of Wild Hogs. I completely forgot Ray Liotta (RIP) was the antagonist. For GTA fans, it reminded me of what if Tommy Vercetti joined the Lost and the Damned. To his credit, he definitely wasn’t excessively downing 1800 tequila on set yet and came off as intimidating even with neck tattoos that were hard to take seriously. The only scene I remember from my youth is Kyle Gass singing the Pussy Cat Dolls’ “Don’t Cha” and in fairness, he still kills it in the rewatch.
Tommy doesn’t realize he would become Santa in the situation above
Like any movie, I had my typical pedantic complaints with Wild Hogs.
I think a bartender or two, kitchen staff, or anyone in the bathroom at the bar would have died when the explosion happens at the antagonist hangout, but I guess let’s just gloss over that for the sake of legal convenience.
You’re telling me no one in a rural desert town has a gun.
Perhaps these prior two issues are nitpicky, but without a doubt, the most unbelievable aspect of the movie had to be no matter how cool Travolta’s character is supposed to be, there’s no way a world-famous swimsuit model would agree to live in Cincinnati.
Still, despite my grumbles, the movie’s lasting legacy is undeniable. Major impacts are easy to spot in the sports world as University of Arkansas fans proudly now cheer, “Wooo, Hog, Sooie!” instead of the antiquated “Wooo, Pig, Sooie!” and the Washington Commanders recently adopted a new mascot, Major Tuddy, inspired by the crest of the Wild Hogs gang. In pop culture, even with the 2009 outbreak of Swine Flu across the world, the children’s television show Peppa Pig saw its popularity grow exponentially in the United States after the release of Wild Hogs as parents became more welcoming of swine-associated characters.
Sadly, a previously-planned sequel title Wild Hogs 2: Bachelor Ride got shelved in the late 2000s. However, I think our country is ready and in need of a sequel. Please reach out to every subpar comedy writer you know and ask them to start working on drafts for Wild Hogs 2: United Hogs of America.