Pain & Gain review: Miami, muscles and mayhem

Anthony Mackie, Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson explode onto our screens

From Pain & Gain, I didn't expect too much, but I did expect tank tops galore, a few laughs, Miami sun and action, and that's exactly what I got.

Said to be an exact true story, stemming from 1995, Pain & Gain follows Danny Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) as he becomes increasingly fed-up with his mediocre life as a bodybuilder and decides to kidnap and rob one of his wealthiest clients with two of his buff buddies. But, they're not exactly criminal masterminds...



If anyone can create quintessential "guy movies", it's Michael Bay. His directorial filmography, including the likes of Transformers and Bad Boys, may not be built upon the most profound films audiences have ever seen, but they're certainly more-than-satisfying popcorn movies and Pain & Gain is no different.

It's highly stylised with a lot of the scenes being supported by over-the-top text often adding comical value to the situation. It even reiterates during an outrageous scene that "this is still a true story". Over-the-top is probably the best phrase to describe Pain & Gain in fact, everything is heightened and amplified to create an outrageous farcical movie. It's style is something viewers would most likely believe to be a Tarantino movie or something from the mind of Martin McDonagh.

It's actually quite hard to believe that this story is in fact, based almost completely around truth, and yet was made into a black comedy. It has even become a bit of a sore point amongst critics, hailing Bay's portrayal of what is, a pretty vicious story, as "awful". Arguably, what helped him get away with manipulating the material in this way is his satirical treatment of not only some parts of the story but the characters as well. 

Johnson's character, in particular, comes across incredibly exaggerated to provide a lot of the humour. "The Rock" probably wouldn't be someone's first choice when thinking of a comedy actor, but he plays the part well with excellent comedic timing plus not to mention, hilarious facial expressions!

Wahlberg's Lugo also presents itself a little on the caricature side but works well. Creating a protagonist that you can both laugh-a-long with like a mate but dislike simultaneously must have been difficult but Wahlberg and Bay manage it with their joint interpretation of the real-life criminal.  The fact that it's common knowledge Wahlberg used to front a hip-hop band and wear similar clothes to his character in this, almost adds another level to the humour and appears as if sometimes, he's picking fun out of himself too. 

This is probably the funniest of all of Bay's films and this is why it works so well, it's almost mocking  male bravado and action movies, which so many of his pictures are.

For me, this film was exactly what I thought it was going to be and it delivered in every way. The beginning was verging on slow, but once the characters were established and the story kicked in, it was both tense and funny. Black comedies often have a hard time cementing themselves in the genre due to their complete mix of styles but Pain & Gain combines scenes that will make you cringe and will make you laugh, seamlessly. (The 90's soundtrack is also an added bonus!)