Pain & Gain but little brain

Pain & Gain is the newest film to help fill out Michael Bay's resume.  As we all know Bay was the "mastermind" behind many popular box office hits such as the Transformers trilogy, the Bad Boys duo, and let's not forget Pearl Harbor...okay let's forget Pearl Harbor.  As we should forget the atrocious love story associated with Pearl Harbor, we can remember the exciting action packed sequences which Bay has been known to regularly exploit, and for these we say thank you Mr. Bay! Let's face it world, when it comes down to an action movie, regardless of if it is following alien robots or renegade Miami cops, all we expect and count on is that everything is expendable and hopefully will explode at some point during the film's entirety.  In regards to Pain & Gain the explosion factor wasn't in full force, however that doesn't mean this film was short on intense chase scenes, gun fights, or any other heart-racing, adrenaline-pumping, super-charged, mind-blowing, face numbing, something-else happening intensity we have come to know and love from any and every Michael Bay film: past, present, and in the future!  (That was a very long sentence, you're welcome!)

Pain & Gain was both different and similar to Michael Bay's usual repertoire; unlike many of his films, Pain & Gain centers on reality, no the transformers are not real.  This film follows three characters in the 90's: Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg), Paul Doyle (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie), all of whom are body building muscle mountains posing as real life members of society.

I don't think it was necessary for me to mention the decade this escapade went down; sweet fanny packs and wardrobes gentleman!

These three men (again this a true story) conceive an "evil plot" where they kidnap a rich sleezebag and force him to sign over all of his assets: money, home, business, etc.  Their next step in the plan is to murder the guy which will cover their buns...happily-ever-after!  Or not.  Since this is a true story I will spare most of the details (this also means no spoilers people) as to the fact any of you can go and do an internet search for any of these people and get the low-down.  What I will tell you is that as with most evil plots afoot, this trio spared no expense for their deed or time to actually plan it out.  Most of their actions were spur of the moment types of behavior, on the fly, mainly stemming from the fact that even when they had a plan, inevitably one or more blew their specific duty (usually The Rock's character) causing the entire scheme to collapse.  This forced them to have to "run and gun" so to speak, providing a more entertaining yet head shaking time for we the viewer.   This "amateur hour" stuff helped drive the plot to be more twisted than Princess Leia's braids, even more eviler than Skeletor

I'm so evil, and just as buff as any of those guys up above!

and about as gross as a Baby Ruth floating in a swimming pool.  About the only difference between this films plot and any plot from Quentin Tarantino is that in Pain & Gain the over-use of blood was not as present.  All of these really vivid analogies offered up by Pain & Gain leads to a fantastic visual ride with superb acting from all players key and ancillary.

It's really tough to analyze a film's story when it is based on reality.  How can one say, "I felt this characters motivation seemed forced, or it didn't seem natural to have said that or done that" when in fact it most likely happened in real life?  Of course it is safe to say and remind everyone that writers and directors are allowed a little bit of wiggle room when it comes to making films about reality, but when the viewer is reminded at the bottom of the screen that this is a "true story" we can assume that the scene in the movie was more real and less fictitious.  The dialogue is most likely different from reality, I mean I highly doubt they recording all of their conversations, and I'm some of the locations are different, there could even be a different order of events; all-in-all though the real life version holds the reigns rather tightly on the film makers when it can, so for the most part what you see is what they got.  

Another difficult hurdle to pass for me in regards to this review is that there is no character you want to root for; there's no Rocky Balboa.  Naturally, the viewer wants to get behind the characters played by Wahlberg and The Rock- I mean come on they are the stars of this film!  The problem lies with the fact that morally speaking we want to steer clear of these delinquents.  We know deep down inside that what we are watching them do is bad, frowned upon; so where do we turn?  As the viewer who do we want to identify with, who do we want to see succeed and win?  Where is the triumph we are seeking?  The answer is: nowhere.  This lack of "hero" coupled with the plot restrictions makes for a rather interesting yet difficult film making experience.  Mad props are due to you Mr. Bay.  Mission accomplished!

As with all Directors, there are some who are not fans of Michael Bay.  They feel as though his abilities are weak and his projects unworthy.  To be totally honest with you, I can't think of a film he has influenced with his gritty action filled style that I haven't liked, other than the obviously weak story behind Pearl Harbor; but come on people, we already had an amazing "biopic"-esque film depicting that infamous day at Pearl Harbor; I am of course referring to Tora! Tora! Tora!  So for Bay making Pearl Harbor post the above mentioned masterpiece, he undoubtedly needed to add a little flare to make it relevant and not just a duplication.  Sorry for the side-note rambling, back to my original main-point rambling. 

Michael Bay is actually quite the impressive film maker.  He is a good old fashioned American style director, the kind to make huge budget films which entertain, without necessarily motivating others; Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Martin Scorsese are some other big budget American styled film makers, yet you don't hear people complaining about them (Lucas is an exception).  I really am unsure where and why this anti-Micahel Bay campaign started, but hear it from me, he is on top of his game- so leave him alone.

One thing you can always count on from Michael Bay is his elaborate action; something which is constantly overshadowed, and just as expected and frequent, is his gritty camera work.  Bay has this niche for putting the camera right in the mix, be it hero cameras (cameras attached to the character showing up-close and personal images) camera cars (vehicles chasing and tracking along with hero cars) or one of my personal favorites, his 360 degree tracking shots.

"In motion picture terminology, the term tracking shot may refer to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken; in this case the shot is also known as a dolly shot or trucking shot. One may dolly in on a stationary subject for emphasis, or dolly out, or dolly beside a moving subject (an action known as "dolly with").

The term tracking shot may also refer to any shot in which the camera follows a subject within the frame, such as a moving actor or a moving vehicle.^[1] When using the term tracking shot in this sense, the camera may be moved in ways not involving a camera dolly, such as via a Steadicam, via handheld camera operator, or by being panned on a tripod."

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking_shot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUZ9qAOaN5Q
(this camera move was used in Pain & Gain)

Michael Bay did not disappoint one bit when it came to his signature cinematography and choice of camera moves.  One thing this youtube clip shows is his ability to keep the audience engaged in the action sequence.  It allows you to see exactly what is happening during the mayhem, and bring the audience in on the action.  This same scene could have been shot using Shot Reverse Shot shooting/editing, meaning a shot starting with character A, a cut to a shot of character B, then back to character A.  

This process can be repeated as many times as is necessary; this is a very common editing style used throughout all forms of media:television, film, interviews, etc.  So why does Michael Bay go through the painstaking process to make these continuos 360 degree shots, the answer: because he can.  When he does he gets a much more memorable result and his rating as director goes up, plus the shot looks so much cooler!  

As for Pain & Gain, his abilities and vision aid in this psychotic world of body building con-men.  Mix in Miami's own flamboyance and abundance of beautiful people, 

you got yourself one stimulating visual explosion of color and exuberance that will leave you on the edge of your seat.  This film, although quite long in run-time (130 minutes), never leaves you hanging.  All the blanks get filled in, and within a proper order and time-frame.  We the audience are given what we need when we need it without any hesitation.  This film truly earned its "R" rating as well as its exhilarating reviews.  Pain & Gain will leave you properly satisfied and rather creeped out. You will learn life lessons about humility and desperation, while laughing and enjoying this film. 

Final Words: Large Popcorn.

This film was completely over-the-top in cinematography, plot, action and comedy. This was a put together, well-made "documentary" type of film.  The cast was excellent and even though there's no character you can get behind, it still is quite the entertaining film.  No kiddies on this one folks, many graphic scenes and language and mild nudity.

Until next time, happy viewing!

Review Rating : Based on popcorn sizes; small, medium, large, extra-large

                           When films get a snore zzz... worth skipping