Netflix is flexing some muscle (literal and metaphorical) with Red Notice, the sort of splashy, big name action movie that would usually be reserved for a theatrical release. With Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, they’ve brought in three of Hollywood’s most reliably kinetic action stars to deliver on a whiz-bang, pew pew, hiii-yah, KABOOM number that looks like it’d be a lot of fun on the big screen. Will it also be fun on the small screen? We’ll see. Johnson is John Hartley, the FBI’s “top profiler” (love it) who issues Interpol’s “baddest bad guys only” red notice to two notorious art thieves: Nolan Booth (Reynolds) and a mysterious crook known as the Bishop (Gadot). But of course, things go awry and Johnson is forced to team up with his targets to take down an even bigger threat.
This means our three heroes get lots of opportunities to bounce their respective gimmicks off each other. Johnson’s lunkhead bravado and Reynolds’ smug sardonicism are an easy pairing, while Gadot can be relied on for languid cool and, in an apparent twist from her famous superhero role, a bit of amoral mystery.
It’s all written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, who’s worked with Johnson on movies like Skyscraper and Central Intelligence while honing his comedy chops on We’re the Millers and Dodgeball. Honestly could go either way here. Stay tuned.
