Film Preview: The Brothers Grimsby (2016)

Page Revisions:

(January 10, 2016) Original
(March 6, 2016) New Trailer (#4) / New Posters (#3-#5) / Updated Release Date (changed from 3/4/16)

Release Date:

March 11, 2016

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A new assignment forces a top spy to team up with his football hooligan brother.”

Poster Rating: B+ / C / B / D (2)

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Review: (#1) Plenty of rich detail in a visually stunning design make this comedy look more classy than it actually is. (#2) On the other hand, you have a design like this which makes the film look corny as hell and not in a good way.

(#3) A colorful and detailed design that doesn’t feel entirely fresh even if it is a moderate spoof of spy designs. (#4-#5) These dual-character posters are stark and lifeless. I know they are trying to go for James Bond stylings, it just doesn’t work here.

Trailer Rating: C / B+ / B- / D

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Review: (#1) As with all comedies that sound rather lame, the first trailer accentuates those inferior elements and makes this look like a poor man’s version of Austin Powers. (#2) The second trailer explodes those prior expectations and creates a film that looks quite funny and entirely entertaining. (#3) The final trailer slides back towards the first, maintaining some of the creativity while exacerbating the impression that the film is ultimately rather idiotic.

(#4) I’m not exactly sure why changing your tack for advertising can help sell your film better. So what if Sacha Baron Cohen has some famous characters in his past, this film isn’t just another of his characters emerging into cinemas. It’s supposedly about much more than that, but the lack of humor in this fourth design suggests they should probably have gone with the older designs and not tried reinventing the wheel.