What do the films, Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), Oceans 11 (2001), and The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) have in common? Well, almost nothing except for the fact Netflix’s new action-comedy, Red Notice, takes elements from those films and jumbles them into this fever dream of a film. I say fever dream because after watching it, I really could not fathom what I had just put myself through. It’s one of those films that require audiences to really only focus on the actors and push aside the part of the brain that is telling you, “what the hell is going on?”. Rosin Marshall Thurber, who you may remember as the director of the 2 most forgettable films of the last 4 years, Skyscraper (2018) and Central Intelligence (2016), writes and directs his new and equally tragic film, Red Notice. In this film, we follow Special Agent John Hartley who, after being framed for an art heist, reluctantly teams up with the 2nd greatest art thief, Nolan Booth, to track down and catch the greatest art thief in the hopes of clearing his name.
So basically, it’s a somewhat simple film with an entertaining rat chase while also featuring an entertaining, and charming cast to entice audiences. But it is the disturbing decisions that will drive you mad as the film jumps from genre to genre, forcing you to engage in your own rat chase to find the point of this film. There is almost nothing that works in Red Notice and the aspects that do work are sabotaged by the crude execution of the film’s ideas. For instance, the film shows off fluid cinematography done by drone work and CGI during action sequences, pulling you in a few steps but after taking 2 steps forward, this film pulls a full 180 to construct some god-awful fight sequences. Choppy editing mixed with jaw-droppingly unconvincing fight choreography rips the tension from under the feet of most of these scenes. And not only are these scenes difficult to watch but the ill-advised quips in the midst of these high-speed action scenes completely murder any chance of building tension.
It is such an infuriatingly bland experience containing characters you could care less about, and it’s almost depressing to watch the film attempt to push for character backstory by including awful information dumping through one scene. And because the film cannot sit still for 5 minutes, the character’s backstory is forgotten almost instantly. But it’s not like the film exactly needs character development when the comedic pair, played by Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson, is basically playing themselves throughout the entire film. Ryan Reynolds is the funny, quippy, and Deadpool-Esque humor along with Dwyane Johnson’s super-buff-action-hero character that we have all seen before. Luckily, since the film literally consists of zero substance, these characters quite literally carry this story on their backs for almost 2 hours, offering entertaining moments, forcing a few chuckles out here and there. And the cherry-on-top of characters is played by Gal Gadot, playing the elusive art thief, and you can tell she loves this role. Her highly zesty performance pairs exceptionally well with Reynolds and Johnson’s partnership, assisting the film further and actually giving the audiences something to look forward to.
However, other than the performances dragging this awfully written narrative on their shoulders, Thurber will further frustrate you with some mind-boggling awful twists. There is absolutely no payoff at the end of your troubles, and you’re instead given one of the cheapest setups for a sequel I have ever seen. And it’s at that point when I realized Thurber yearned to write a film as a pure cash grab. No substance in sight, barely a fraction of forgiving moments, and the product placements scattered mindlessly are so painfully unsubtle, you will have PTSD flashbacks to Michael Bays Transformers (2007). Red Notice is nothing but a way to squeeze pennies out of viewers and present a half-finished film ready to be forgotten in 1 day. This is almost like your average Hollywood buddy-comedy wanting to scrape in the money and disappear, except this film hopes to turn this into a franchise that is bound to be as dangerously boring and bland as the first installment.
At the end of the day, Red Notice is littered with dreadful writing mixed with a concoction of unsatisfying moments. And with no genuine traits, audiences will be left feeling unsatisfied by what they just endured. Honestly, this film should have been released in the summer, at least then it would have blended in with the other big-budget flops. After pushing myself to finish this atrocious cash grab, I can instead watch the 3 films Red Notice took elements from and I highly advise everyone else to do the same. This ungainly film is a pure waste of time and one of the worst films of 2021.
I’ll probably watch it at some point for the pure mind numbing entertainment, but I have 0 faith in expectations.
Glad i can look at my boyfriend’s face every time i cringe because this movie sucks
Wow, that was eviscerating. I’m gonna have to watch it to learn what not to do.
Yeah, I admit we watched it and it was a disappointment and total waste of time. But I hope these 3 were paid a TON of money.
I’m a sucker for cheesy action films, yes with Don Johnson and Ryan Reynolds. I do happen to like Raiders of the Lost Ark, so I can tolerate this movie, it was ok, but not on my to watch again list, Great review!
Thank you for the review! I’ll watch this when I want a good laugh and entertaining time.
I am not a critic, because as an artist, it is hard for me to be too critical on other artists that put it all out there. It’s hard for me to go negative. What I will say is this film had all the resources to be at minimum, solid and fun entertainment, and didn’t quite get even there for me.