What can I say about Red Notice except that it is everything we’ve come to expect from a Netflix “blockbuster.” It’s got all of those elements that the streamer has exploited over the years in order to get eyeballs. Hollywood A-listers. Globetrotting adventures. High octane action. Some occasional comedic hijinks. (See: 6 Underground, Army of the Dead, Extraction, The Old Guard, etc.) It’s the kind of movie that’s been laser targeted towards a couchbound audience. You’re browsing through that seemingly endless catalogue, utterly confounded as to what to watch next, when you come across a picture of The Rock and click play. It’s Movie Psychology 101. And it works. Only this movie doesn’t just have one big name, it’s got three. All of whom are instantly recognizable. All of whom play incredibly well to a global audience.
I know, I know, it’s a little cynical, but watching this, I couldn’t help but feel that it was corporate product that’s been carefully crafted in order to increase subscriber numbers. This is Netflix weaponizing the charm and likability of Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot, as well as taking full advantage of their massive social media reach. It’s taking some of the biggest names on the planet and using them to force a franchise.
Now don’t get me wrong, Red Notice is fun. Ish. Its 115 minutes are well produced, competently choreographed, and moves at a pace that doesn’t allow you the time to split hairs. The problem here, however, is what happens after the credits. As soon as you’ve had any time at all to think about it, you suddenly realize that you’ve seen this all before, only bigger, and better, and with a lot more smarts.
Raiders of the Lost MacGuffin
But first, a quick explainer. A “red notice” is a sort of high profile warrant issued by Interpol for criminals who operate across international borders and jurisdictions. It’s what leads FBI agent John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) to Rome, as he pursues the “second” best art thief in the world, Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds), who is looking to steal one of three MacGuffins that has something to do with Anthony and Cleopatra. (There are these eggs. They’re priceless. One of them hasn’t been seen in two thousand years. It doesn’t really matter.)
The mission goes off the rails. There’s a double cross. Hartley is framed by The Bishop (Gal Gadot), finds himself on the wrong side of the law, and ends up sharing a Russian prison cell with his arch nemesis. The both of them then form an uneasy alliance in order to take down The Bishop, clear Hartley’s name, and ensure that Booth reclaims his title as the “first” best art thief in the world.
If all of that sounds a little flimsy, it’s because it is. There is very little connective tissue between these characters and the action adventure that’s been hoisted unto them. In fact, most of the movie’s plot twists and narrative turns seemingly exist just to get our stars from one big set piece to the next.
Writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber pulls from a wide range of inspirations, cribbing from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Pink Panther, and National Treasure, and Lupin the Third. Unfortunately, he spends so much time making reference to those movies, that he forgets to carve his own path. The consequence of which is something that feels like a pale imitation.
Algorithmic Casting
Now I know what you’re thinking. Okay, the writing isn’t great, but surely the big three more than make up for any directorial shortcomings. And they do. But only by virtue of the fact that you already love these actors. Their real world personalities overshadowing the characters they play on screen.
Dwayne Johnson is… well… Dwayne Johnson. He’s delightful and eminently watchable. Ryan Reynolds seems to be doing the same schtick he’s been doing in every movie we’ve ever seen him in. And Gal Gadot, it appears, can’t really act, failing to pull off the vampiness required to be a believable femme fatale. The chemistry between them is fleeting at best, with each one seemingly left to their own devices, to do their own thing that everyone already loves them for.
Say what you will about those Fast and Furious movies, but they’re always pushing the envelope, escalating the action, and raising the stakes. If you’re going to make a new movie in an old genre, you have to to something that makes it stand apart. You need to build on everything that has come before. You need to give the audience something more than a few quippy quips, tired character tropes (protagonists with daddy issues!), and lazy pastiches.
For a movie that reportedly cost over US$200 million (Netflix’s most expensive production to date), Red Notice offers very little more than your average actioner. It is incredibly lightweight. It is overwhelmingly safe. For that kind of money, I was expecting a lot more. Something grander. Something that took risks. I was hoping for an action movie that felt like a rebuke to every major Hollywood studio. This just felt like more of the same.
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