'Red Notice' Review: Netflix's star-studded flick has the swag but no substance
The last three months have seen some great movies come and go. 'Red Notice' isn't going to be on that list. It's unfair really when you have Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, and Dwayne Johnson acting for you and all that you can manage is a damp squib of a movie that even sees your stars look disinterested at some point. Johnson's larger-than-life persona misses out, Reynolds and Gadot probably wish they'd rather attend a dress-up party as Deadpool and Wonder Woman than look for Cleopatra's three golden eggs in this forgetful flick.
Just everything about 'Red Notice' is bluster. It's got swag, the glittery set pieces, Gadot's oomph, Reynold's potty-mouth and impeccable coming timing, but lacks substance. Three A-List names and you end up getting a flop. It's like watching the Brooklyn Nets load up with James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving and not winning an NBA title. It's probably the bad writing and the immense confidence that these stars on a poster will make enough moolah more than what was spent making it.
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For all the glossy showcasing, this one's pretty cheap inside. The script is predictable and flimsy. Johnson plays John Hartley, an Interpol agent who profiles people and keeps scores. There's Reynolds' Nolan Booth — a smooth-talking, wise-cracking art thief and Gadot's Sarah Black, another criminal and all of them are behind the golden eggs of Cleopatra that are scattered in different parts of the world. Now that explains the who and what's the flick about and the globe-trotting.
And what follows is a bit of double-crossing when Hartley is framed and teams up with Booth as they hunt for the third egg. The second half of the movie is all Indy Jones style, but not before a vague bullfight and a classy (perhaps the only bearable) museum fight that's shown in the trailers. Gadot's screentime is half the movie probably as Johnson and Reynolds hog up most of it, but look absolutely disinterested while at it. There are fights and some shots being fired, but no blood. There are jokes, but they don't even tickle the funny bone and there's no depth.
So believe it that when the trio hint at a potential sequel, deep down they hope the film doesn't get made. For all you know, 'Red Notice' might work better on the big screen, but then again, with all the movies that have been released so far and have managed to grip the attention, including Marvel's 'Eternals', there would be hope that this one packs a punch, but director Rawson Marshall Thurber's movie just gets that hope to crash and burn. That said, the star power will still get this movie major eyeballs.
Oh, and Puff Daddy fans, there's a bit of 'Notorious' that serves as a relief as the end credits start to roll. So that's something.
'Red Notice' is currently streaming on Netflix.