By: Amanda Guarragi
In a world where there are plenty of blockbusters and well-known action stars, Red Notice feels like a mixture of everything. Many of these blockbusters feel like they are recycled with the same actors and it is starting to get a bit dull. There are fun moments because we, as fans, would love to see certain actors work together, but if the story isn’t decent enough to keep our attention, then what are we even watching new ones for? We can all go back and watch the ones we already have and gain the same kick from it. There is star power at the front with Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson, and Ryan Reynolds in a heist film built for Netflix. It feels very generic, a bit messy in its execution and the chemistry between the three of them was off at times.
The opening of the film explains everything that is about to happen in this movie but it doesn’t give away the twists in the third act. The twists may have been a bit excessive but it still added some zest to a fairly bland script. As we dive into this adventure, an Interpol agent, Inspector Urvashi Das (Ritu Arya) attempts to hunt down and capture the world’s most wanted art thief, Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds). Accompanying her on this mission is FBI agent, John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson), who is very intuitive and reads Booth like an open book. After that encounter, Booth and Hartley both get acquainted and they start this budding bromance that never fully works.
Hartley and Booth end up working together to take down The Bishop (Gal Gadot), who actually is the world’s greatest thief. Gadot really shined in this role and the villain role suits her. It was a nice change of pace considering the banter between Reynolds and Johnson went stale halfway through the film. The main issue with this movie is that Johnson and Reynolds play the exact same character they always do but it’s just a different action film. It has gotten to the point where people just hire Reynolds to play Wade Wilson in their movie over and over again because he is a draw. Meanwhile, all we want is a Deadpool 3 and it’s very frustrating to sit through. It does have some fun dialogue, but the quippy banter got repetitive, and sadly Johnson did not work with Reynolds in the way I was hoping.
Red Notice is a generic, flashy heist film that uses its star power to carry us through. Unfortunately, the weak script and poorly executed action scenes can’t hold this film together. The twist at the end, in a way, didn’t really work and just made it more confusing. The trio worked well together but when Gadot wasn’t in the mix, Reynolds and Johnson were both stale, which made the first act feel like a struggle. If you want a mindless action film this weekend then definitely give this a go. You’ll laugh with Reynolds trying to get these jokes to land or else it’s a pretty forgettable film for Netflix. Sometimes star power can’t save a weak script.
Candid Cinema 