Red Notice is the rating for most seriously wanted international criminals. Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds are three of them in this action comedy produced by Netflix and released by Universal.
The question is how serious can it be with Ryan Reynolds as the most effective art thief in the world. It’s Reynolds as Nolan Booth that keeps the comedy flowing as Johnson’s John Hartley is the power house muscle of what is a loosely gathered team of three. Johnson plays the role of the straight man in the team that gives Reynolds all the punch lines.
Reynolds favorite line is ‘easy peasy’ as challenges are faced by the two men who are in part of the time allied with Sarah Black/The Bishop (Gal Gadot).
The story revolves around three eggs given to Cleopatra by Caesar which are coveted by various legal and illegal groups around the World. It’s the third egg that the trio are out to get.
The opening scene is one similar to the beginning of many James Bond (007) episodes filled with action scenes that are way over the top. In fact the action scenes and the comedy are the best portions of the film. Between those scenes we find ourselves waiting for more action and comedy rather bland dialogue that appears to be in pace just to fill time.
The around the World scenes are pleasant to watch from Egypt to Rome along with 40’s style location shots where walls moves when just the right combination of stones and amulets are placed correctly and a new chamber filled with treasure opens.
Clues as to alliances and various purposes are distributed throughout the script that tell us the true structure of the alliances, which only are made clear at the climax but can easily be missed when they appear.
Red Notice is not perfect but as is noted in the end of The Sting it’s not bad.