WARNING: The following review is not directed towards those who had experience the events the film is based on, or those who had read up on it. If you are unpleasant about the words said in this review, despite it all being an opinion of a movie, then I suggest you skip this review and find something else to read up on.
If you do write in the comments that I should be ashamed of writing this on a film of tragic events or Michael Bay in general, don't say you weren't warned. It will be brought against you.
Michael Bay...what can be said about him that HASN'T been? He's gotten the reputation as one of Hollywood's biggest shames in the past fifteen years, with films like “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor,” and “Transformers 2.” What else could I add to that? Well...I don't think Bay is AS bad as people say he is. Don't get me wrong, I'm annoyed with his films, but not all of them are crap. “Bad Boys,” “The Rock,” “The Island,” and even “Transformers 3” I actually think are legitimately good films. Not great, but good. Besides, I think Bay's a better director than he is a producer...HINT...HINT. But now, we'll be looking at his newest film starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson, “Pain & Gain.”
Now, when I first heard about this movie, I thought it was the weirdest idea for a film to expect from Bay, but on the other hand I thought it would be his return to his “Bad Boys” days. However, when I read up more, finding out this was based on a true story about the Sun Gym Gang and that the main characters were the culprits...yeah, I felt a bit uneasy about this film. It tells of Daniel Lugo, a Sun Gym employee who is tired of living life just at a fitness club and being low in the dumps. So when he goes to a Johnny Wu conference, he inspires his friend and newest member to go and kidnap a rich man and have him sign away all of his money, then kill him afterwards.
Now let me just say this...the main characters that we follow are some of the most unlikable people you'll see. They're dumb bastards who feel they aren't that up there and enjoying life, so they decide to take a rich guy's money. It's despicable...but then again, they were despicable in real life to begin with. Sure they killed on purpose and not accidental as the film showed, but either way they still killed people. They were maniac criminals, and the film...SURPRISINGLY made it work. Michael Bay always had most of his film protagonists be so unlikeable and stupid, but here it actually works.
The casting does a good job as well. Mark Wahlberg really sells it as being the “mastermind” behind the crimes, and let me say he's really selling it as a fitness criminal. You can just tell it in his eyes that while he does have weakness, he could still beat the everloving crap out of you. Anthony Mackie as Adrian, Lugo's friend, also does good as being a steroid obsessed guy, who can't seem to quit but still wants to have that thrill, even if he has to pull heists. Dwayne Johnson was great as well. Sure, the person in real life wasn't really accurate, it still pulls off as it would. Not to mention, he had the best line in the entire film, and that had me laughing so much.
Tony Shaloub as Victor Kershaw was also a very funny character. I heard that the real life person had said that they made the film look like the villain when he wasn't, but here's the thing...he was portrayed more sympathetic than Wahlberg or any of the others. But either way, Shaloub did a great job in this role. We also have Ed Harris as the detective, Rebel Wilson as Mackie's girlfriend, Rob Coddry as the Sun Gym manager, and even Ken Jeong as Johnny Wu. They all did pretty good.
Does this film have problems? Yes. For one, I felt like there were some moments that could have been cut out of the film, or at least shortened out a bit. Not to mention, for a black comedy...it's not too funny. Don't get me wrong, there are some funny moments, but I didn't feel there was enough of it. That, and I think this might be the biggest thing for me...if the film said it was INSPIRED by a true story, instead of being BASED, then it probably would have worked better. Besides, the families of the victims had complained about this movie being made, and I can understand how one would think killers would be sympathetic...but they weren't sympathetic, so it can be reasonable...I think.
The film was written by Christoper Markus and Stephen McFeely, the same duo behind the screenplays for “The Chronicles of Narnia Trilogy,” and “Captain America: The First Avenger.” They are good writers, and I'm glad to know that a story like this was put into the hands of a director who'd actually make this work with his style. Yes, Bay's style of direction was the right choice.
Overall, “Pain & Gain,” while has problems, is still a good movie. And I know there are going to be some people complaining that I'm giving support to Bay, but here's the thing...I said in the beginning that he's a better director than he is a producer. And while he did produce this, he actually knew what he was doing when he made this. It's just one of those film that you need to decide on what you think would work.
Rating: 8/10
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