Written and directed by Skyscraper’s Rawson Marshall Thurber, Red Notice, premiering on Netflix this November, fires on all cylinders when it comes to over-the-top action and delivers a globe-trekking crime caper that, ignoring the rest of the critics out there (who love to crap all over action comedies), is a lot more fun and entertaining than anyone is really giving it credit for.
Well, I am here to tell you that I am down with all that Red Notice and its cast - which includes Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds - offers as audiences go on an adventure involving thieves and the search for Cleopatra’s three bedazzled eggs. Sound like a B-grade premise to you? It is. And everything about this rousing comedic tale of distrust and double-crossing gets an A from me.
Sure, the fictional premise of Marc Antony giving Cleopatra three eggs might be the stuff of fluffy nonsense and sparkling dreams, but Thurber and his main cast presents the idea to audiences in a believable manner as he subverts our expectations time and time again with a fun screenplay that is matched only by Reynolds’ witty performance as international art thief Nolan Booth. Booth wants to be number one in the heist game, but Sarah Black (Gadot), AKA The Bishop, manages to outdo him time and time again. She likes being on top and for good reason.
Booth’s acquisition of the three eggs will change all that and place him at the top of the art theft game. But can he survive the dogged intensity of Special Agent John Hartley (Johnson), a criminal profiler for the FBI, who refuses to give up in his pursuit of Hartley, whether it be at the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome or at Booth’s home in Bali.
But, when the egg goes missing again, Interpol agent Urvashi Das (Ritu Arya) has good reason to suspect Hartley of up to no good, too. Which is how both Hartley and Booth find themselves stuck in a remote Russian prison as cellmates. What follows is a fun and entertaining caper-minded comedy as this thieving trio - because The Bishop is not going to be toppled by the “daddy issues” of Booth - travels to Valencia for some fun antics in a bullfighting ring and then to the jungles of Argentina where they land inside a Mercedes-Benz previously owned by Adolf Hitler's personal art curator Rudolph Zeich.
With a great cast - and truly the chemistry between Reynolds and Johnson is just great and mindless fun - and some awesome set pieces with which some crazy action takes place against, Red Notice is sure to warm your insides with laughter as the weather outside gets colder this holiday season. It’s got great action beats (at times, even subverting your own expectations), solid humor throughout, and offers fun escapism with its globe-hopping shenanigans. Honestly, when it comes to mindless entertainment, what’s not to like about Red Notice?
Myself, I am ready to see this team reunited . . . like yesterday. Red Notice is now playing on Netflix after Universal lost out on distribution rights. Get in on the fun!
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence and action, some sexual references, and strong language.
Runtime: 118 mins
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Writer: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast: Dwayne Johnson; Ryan Reynolds; Gal Gadot
Genre: Action | Comedy
Tagline: Pros and Cons.
Memorable Movie Quote: "You can have excuses or results. Not both."
Theatrical Distributor: Netflix
Official Site: https://www.netflix.com/title/81161626
Release Date: November 12, 2021
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: When an Interpol-issued Red Notice — the highest level warrant to hunt and capture the world’s most wanted— goes out, the FBI’s top profiler John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) is on the case. His global pursuit finds him smack dab in the middle of a daring heist where he’s forced to partner with the world’s greatest art thief Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) in order to catch the world’s most wanted art thief, “The Bishop” (Gal Gadot)
