If you were a fan of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Shane Black’s off-the-wall crime comedy that pairs a private investigator (Val Kilmer) with a thief masquerading as an actor (Robert Downey Jr.), there’s a good chance you’ll like The Nice Guys, Shane Black’s off-the-wall crime comedy that pairs a private investigator (Ryan Gosling) with an unscrupulous, skull-cracking hired gun (Russel Crowe). The latter isn’t a direct sequel to the former, but has been labeled as a “spiritual successor,” and provides the same sort of riotous, tongue-in-cheek-y action.
Set in ’70s Los Angeles, the film centers around the suicide of a porn star in the twilight of her career, a death that blows the lid off of a sprawling conspiracy.
On Friday, the studio released the first red band trailer for the film, and it looks like a rip-roaring good time. Bones break, guns fire, cars crash, and no fewer than three people plummet from the top of tall buildings. Both lead roles seem very well cast and the new spot packs plenty of comedic punch. Here are a few of the highlights:
At 1:05 Gosling threatens Crowe with a gun but is repeatedly thwarted by a temperamental bathroom stall door; at 2:03, people are dying left and right, faster than you can turn your head; and at 2:35, Gosling takes a unplanned high-dive into a pool, while whoever is falling alongside him isn’t so lucky.
Like Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths, and other wacky action romps, The Nice Guys doesn’t appear to take it self too seriously, adding a pleasant drizzle of comedy on top of the brutal action. Fans of the Lethal Weapon franchise should also have this one on their radar, as director Shane Black wrote the screenplay for the original and also worked on the first of its three sequels.
You can check out the full red band trailer above (NSFW), and you can catch the film in theaters on May 20, 2016.
