Action, Sex Noises Abound in Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘The Brothers Grimsby’ Trailer

It’s been a while since the pop-cultural mainstream heard from prankish funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen. The humorist known for oafish, deviously irritating characters like Borat, Ali G, and Bruno has been pretty quiet since he took a starring role in 2013’s adaptation of Les Miserables as the greedy slumlord Thénardier. A brief red-band trailer — eighty whole seconds! — affords audiences a first look at a new film called The Brothers Grimsby, an action picture that still gives Baron Cohen plenty of room to stretch his comedic muscles.

The trailer doesn’t offer up much in the way of details on the film’s central premise. We’re first introduced to Mark Strong as some sort of cybernetically enhanced superspy, capable of disposing of dozens of goons with relative ease.  The first-person-shooter aesthetic from Strong’s heads-up display get nauseating within the minute-and-a-half of this trailer, so here’s hoping that the finished film goes a little easier on that. He barrels through windows and over buildings in an awe-inspiring feat of athleticism, and then we cut to his tattooed brother, plowing away on a show-bed at a department store. To comedy!

Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen) has everything a man from Grimsby could want, including 11 children and the most gorgeous girlfriend in the northeast of England (Rebel Wilson). There’s only one thing missing: his little brother, Sebastian (Mark Strong), who Nobby has spent 28 years searching for after they were separated as kids. Nobby sets off to reunite with Sebastian, unaware that not only is his brother MI6’s deadliest assassin, but he’s just uncovered plans for an imminent global terrorist attack. On the run and wrongfully accused, Sebastian realizes that if he is going to save the world, he will need the help of its biggest idiot.

Strong’s been on something of a roll as of late. Though the talented character actor has yet to score a breakout role, he’s been a reliable fixture in a lot of recent action successes, particularly his collaborations with Matthew Vaughn, Kick-Ass and Kingsman: the Secret Service. Perhaps if he plays his cards right, this action-comedy could be the crossover hit his career has been wanting for.

The Brothers Grimsby opens in theaters on March 4, 2016.