Slow Motion? Check. Ludicrous plotline? Check. Cool guys walking away from explosions? Absolutely. All these ingredients have been fired into the new red-band trailer for Michael Bay’s latest film Pain & Gain and the result is a cacophony of humorous mayhem. Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie and Dwayne Johnson will lead the cast for the director in a story inspired by true events. No, really.
Pain & Gain will chart the events surrounding a group of everyday bodybuilders who begin to moonlight as criminals in order to climb the social ranks in Miami. Mark Wahlberg plays fitness fanatic Daniel Lugo who, along with the help of Adrian Dorbal (Mackie) and Dwayne Johnson’s recently released criminal Paul Doyle, looks to kidnap and extort one of the gym’s more affluent members.
What seems generic on paper has been infused with so much testosterone and Bay-isms in the trailer that you may need to have a lie-down after watching. Famed for his assault-on-the-senses style of filmmaking, Pain & Gain looks to share cinematic DNA with much of Bay’s back catalogue. The American filmmaker is stepping away from the Transformers universe and his new film will be the first movie he’s made that doesn’t involve giant interstellar robots since The Island back in 2005.
Though it may seem like a shallow romp on the surface, the ensemble cast is one that deserves attention. Mark Wahlberg has proven his comedic chops in the past with 2010’s The Other Guys and last year’s Ted, what’s more, the trailer hints at Michael Bay subverting appearances and making fools out of his hulking characters. Hey, don’t expect it to nab a Best Picture nomination come Oscar season, but Pain & Gain looks to offer a riotous mix of bombastic action and an American dream injected with steroids. Plus, if it means Michael Bay concentrating on something other than the Transformers franchise then surely that’s a positive, right?
Pain & Gain will open on April 26th in the US, though the UK will receive the film a week later on May 3rd. Check out the new trailer below!
