Red Notice

Netflix calculated how to make a hit: take a lot of money, put in famous faces, come up with an uncomplicated story, and cram something in there for everyone, ideally in a way that the result won't turn anyone off, regardless of age or whether they want action, adventure, humor, exotic locations, or basically anything. The result is Red Notice. Dwayne Johnson scowls and occasionally punches someone, Ryan Reynolds talks and pisses Johnson off, and Gal Gadot looks good while sadly confirming that her acting talent is more suited for photos or silent films. And overall? Overall, it doesn't offend, it doesn't surprise, it passes pleasantly in the first half and drags in the second, and when there's a problem somewhere, Netflix throws a few million dollars at it and routinist Rawson Marshall Thurbert pulls it all together into something that's about two hours long, with a beginning, middle and end, and everyone will watch it anyway because we're just curious about the actors, right? And then we all forget about it in an hour. I get what Netflix was going for and I respect that they did it, but I'm certainly not going to settle for this uninteresting routine and I'm not going to praise it. It's like it was all made by a machine that figured out what people probably want to see and served it up to them. (17/11/2021)

A TV B-movie with A-movie actors, a promising theme, a weak screenplay and the oh-so-mediocre Rawson Marshall Thurber in the director’s chair. Red Notice could be great a modern take on Indy (they even have Swastikas) and the search for Cleopatra’s golden eggs, if it weren’t for lots of nonsense and ridiculous (even if unexpected) twists. The Rock, Gadot and Ryan Reynold all act how they always act and if this had had more inventive (better filmed) action and if it hadn’t been filmed in a studio, it could have been a wonderful guilty pleasure, but this way it is only just an entertaining snack. P.S.: Not even Jablonsky was trying... (17/11/2021)

Reynolds is playing Reynolds as usual, The Rock is playing The Rock as usual, and Gadot isn’t acting at all (as usual). A fun and snappy, but pitifully unimaginative film (the budget paid for the central three actors, and there was clearly no money left for special effects, so it looks like a run-of-the-mill B-movie). In three days, I will have no memory of seeing the film. It will do as a way to pass a Saturday night. The lower your expectations, the more you'll enjoy it. (13/11/2021)

What a weird movie. There wasn’t a hint of originality, a trio of not-quite-Shakespearean actors were cast in the lead roles, and the script and the way it was handled were quite unimpressive. Forty minutes into the movie, I was already bored, checking my watch every few minutes to see if it was going to be over soon. Gal Gadot may have a nice figure, but her acting is comparable to that of a Ukrainian clothes hanger, Ryan Reynolds' contribution was that he spent the entire movie rambling on and on (to a point when I started secretly hoping that his character would get killed off), and Dwayne Johnson is just The Rock. It was a very long two hours and I'm absolutely certain I won't watch it ever again. (07/01/2022)

A trouble-free film, which was surprising to me. Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds are an unexpectedly great comedy duo, and although neither of them almost ever leave their comfort zones, I didn't mind at all because they are convincingly amusing and not awkward. And Gal Gadot keeps up with them and is more than just a useless pretty face. Red Notice masks the simplicity of the plot with a variety of situations that all three find themselves in, as well as the fact that the film makes fun of itself. For example, when one scene starts to resemble something like Indiana Jones, you can be sure that in a while someone starts whistling the fanfare of John Williams, and the action scene that confirms the affection for Indy lurks around the corner. I liked that the script wasn’t forced, that it didn't need jokes at all costs, that it was imaginative, and although it quotes or recalls all sorts of stuff (the scaffolding scene belongs in Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.), it doesn't steal them, and it is, or tries to be as original as possible. I wanted to be this satisfied with Army of Thieves, for example. (14/11/2021)