Whether it's solidly written films or bland ones, sometimes it requires the most appealing main leads to elevate it as being a watchable piece of entertainment. Regardless of a films faults, audiences can often point to the cast as being its main saving grace, which can be said regarding Netflix's globe-trotting heist flick Red Notice. Carrying a big budget and star-studded cast from Dwayne Johnson to Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, Notice operates as being a serviceable action-comedy that carries all the right ingredients to make it watchable despite its generic plot.
Red Notice's plot revolves around an FBI agent (Dwayne Johnson), and two master art thief's (Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot) all collaborating and competing against each other in search of a rare Egyptian antiguity. Their search ultimately results in several heists and surprise twists. Notice's plot registers as being extremely predictable and formulaic with audiences having seen this story done before more creatively. Although it doesn't bring anything new to the table, its workable plot is given life by its slick production values and appealing A-list trio. Whereas Red Notice lacks in innovativeness, it makes up for with enough charm and popcorn-style thrills to make it deliver on its promise of providing reasonable entertainment.
Much of the reason Notice works can be largely attributed to its cast with Johnson, Reynolds, and Gadot working wonderfully together along with giving the film an extra shot of energy with their charismatic performances. The chemistry between Johnson and Reynolds stands as one of the films main highlights with their rivalry turned friendship being comically effective despite. Johnson is perfectly matched as FBI Special Agent John Hartley with The Rock doing his traditional tough guy persona. Ryan Reynolds does his usual Deadpool routine with him spurring out witty jokes and heavy sarcasm. He not only holds his own against Johnson, but makes for a fitting rival turned partner/friend. Gal Gadot dazzles again with both her beauty and charisma as Booth's main competition, Sarah Black AKA "The Bishop." Gadot is terrific with her surprising as the films main antagonist. The chemistry between the three main leads is spot on with them adding more fun and realism to the story. Ritu Arya impresses as FBI agent Urvashi Das, whose pursuing the gang along with Chris Diamantopoulous as Italian gangster Sotto Voce, whose in possession of one of the eggs. Regardless of how one feels about the rest of the film as a whole, it can be agreed upon that the cast tries their best to make something out of a plot that feels repetitive and cliched.
In terms of the films directing, Rawson Marshall Thurb puts in work that feels standard for a typical action-comedy despite the production budget being the biggest for a Netflix film. Made for $200 million, the film is beautifully shot with gorgeous locations being displayed as the main trio trots the globe looking for treasure. At 118 minutes, Thurb ensures that the film moves at a brisk pace with it being stuffed with a ton of impressively filmed action-set pieces. Thurb's strategy of directing Red Notice consists of him relying heavily on placing the main leads infront of the camera as often as possible to carry the film. In addition, he provides audiences with locations that are richly filmed and go hand-in-hand with the appeal of the main leads. Some of the films exotic globe-trotting locations include Rome, Sardinia, Bali, and Indonesia. Overall, Thurb crafts an enticing visual feature that makes it hard for the audience not to watch and find enjoyment with despite the plots familiarity.
Notice's screenplay ranks as being standard work for the genre with the film replicating the feel of an old school caper flick with Indiana Jones being thrown into the mix. Many of the stories elements have been lifted from other noteworthy action-comedies and adventure films such as True Lies and National Treasure. The script lacks true creativity and innovativeness with both Johnson and Reynolds characters acting as generic character tropes. Johnson's character essentially operates as the straight man FBI agent, who ends up predictably becoming the prime caper suspect and is forced to partner with the thief he's pursuing in order to prove his innocence. Reynolds character comes across as a bad-boy type figure, who delivers heavy sarcasm with some of his lines being totally random (Reynold's character proclaiming that he could make a deepfake video of someone mouth-sexing a goat for example). Gadot's character is written as being charmingly sadistic with her appearing to outsmart both male figures, along with being able to overpower both physically. The back and forth bantering between Johnson and Reynold's character help with sugarcoating the scripts lack of both plot and character depth. An example of the script attempting to add depth to their characters in a way to channel the whole buddy arc, is both men admitting that they have father issues. The screenplay attempts to get twisty with one plot twist being unveiled after another with characters finding themselves overexplaining things as if the audience doesn't get what's happening. The film makes an attempt at relevance with numerous pop culture references, and a subplot involving a Nazi crypt that further reinforces the Indiana Jones connection. Though the writing for Notice is heavily reliant on past action/caper films for comfort, its overall plot manages to work only because of its talented cast who are capable of making it engaging.
While it certainly won't blow anyone's mind away in terms of storytelling, Red Notice delivers entertainment that's largely contingent on the strength of its main stars. With a trio as charismatic and star-studded as the one present here, they can take a concept that's become fairly generic in today's realm of filmmaking and make it palatable to audiences despite its glaring issues. It's not a film that will stand as being memorable long after finishing it, but for one looking for an effective action-comedy, Red Notice proves to be a fun yet disposable piece of entertainment.
Final Verdict: Worth a watch if you're not expecting much from it.
Images Courtesy Of Netflix
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