Red Notice
Big salaries cannot salvage the routine moves of this Netflix action-comedy, although Ryan Reynolds almost saves the day.
Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot
In the parlance of media folk, there is a lot of talent on board of Red Notice. According to Variety and Forbes, two of the entertainment industry’s most reliable sources, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot were paid $20m each for their roles in the film, while Dwayne Johnson got an even bigger chunk of change due to the size of his biceps and his participation as producer. And that’s a whole lotta talent. Yet, besides Johnson’s usual stuntwork, running and punching, he brings nothing new to his role as an FBI profiler on the trail of a legendary thief (Reynolds). Gal Gadot has even less to do, popping up all over the world when you least (?) expect it, looking like a million dollars (or maybe $20m). At one point, when she materialises unexpectedly in Valencia in a stunning, low-cut red dress, Reynolds stares at her and says, “you – look – awful.” To a nattily attired Johnson, he reserves greater praise, observing, “you’re like a well-dressed wall.” In fact, it’s Reynolds’ dry-steamed sarcasm that is the movie’s ace card, bringing spontaneous laughter where so many explosions, fisticuffs and double twists leave one feeling bamboozled. As for the plot’s logic, it rips open holes big enough to hurl The Rock through.
A ‘red notice’ we are told is Interpol’s highest level of arrest warrant, reserved for the world’s ‘most wanted’ criminals. One such is Nolan Booth (Reynolds), who aspires to be the world’s No. 1 art thief. His aim is to steal all three of the so-called ‘Cleopatra’s eggs’, three bejewelled treasures gifted to the Egyptian queen by Antony as a symbol of his undying devotion. To the art world, these are three of the most precious prizes in existence and Booth is prepared to risk his life to acquire them. In a strong opening, we see the intricate reproduction of an imitation egg, which is switched for the real thing in Rome’s Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo. It is here that Johnson’s John Hartley reveals the scam by emptying the contents of a tin of Coke over the forgery – to looks of horror from tourists and curators alike. And, Coke being Coca Cola, the effigy melts in plain sight – just as Booth is witnessed running from the scene with a bag over his shoulder…
Under the direction of Rawson Marshall Thurber (Central Intelligence, Skyscraper), Red Notice lacks pizzazz, style, wit and intelligence. And Reynolds’ sarcasm can only take it so far. There’s one scene – a car chase in a mine shaft – that beggars belief, much like most of the movie, actually. This is strictly frivolous fare, in which the look and the big bang is everything, however far-fetched it may be. The story whips us around the globe, from Rome, Bali, back to Rome, Russia, London, Valencia and Cairo, to studio reproductions of the Argentinian jungle. And there’s one shoot-out that is painful to watch – like witnessing a gun battle in the British Museum. The best one can say about Red Notice is its timing – with the Elgin Marbles once more in the news (following the Greek prime minister’s renewed efforts to have the antiquities returned to Athens), so cultural appropriation is all the chatter. So, who should Cleopatra’s eggs really belong to? It’s a question that sounds obscene.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Ritu Arya, Chris Diamantopoulos, Rawson Marshall Thurber, Ed Sheeran.
Dir Rawson Marshall Thurber, Pro Beau Flynn, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Rawson Marshall Thurber and Hiram Garcia, Screenplay Rawson Marshall Thurber, Ph Markus Förderer, Pro Des Andy Nicholson, Ed Michael L. Sale and Julian Clarke, Music Steve Jablonsky, Costumes Mary E. Vogt, Dwayne Johnson’s barber Rachel Solow.
Flynn Picture Company/Seven Bucks Productions/Bad Version, Inc.-Netflix.
117 mins. USA. 2021. Rel: 12 November 2021. Cert. 12A.
