Certification. 12A
Running Time. 1 hour 58 mins
Director. Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast. Rita Arya, Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds.
Rating. 45%
Red Notice is the third collaboration between Dwayne Johnson and writer-director, Rawson Marshall Thurber (following on from Skyscraper and Central Intelligence). Dwayne Johnson is joined by Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, and backed by a substantial studio budget Red Notice makes no pretence - this is another blatant attempt to create and establish a family-friendly franchise along the lines of The Mummy, National Treasure or Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle.
The problem is that the stars really don't shine. Dwayne Johnson fails to convince as FBI profiler, John Hartley. Johnson's portrayal of the lead character is soulless. He's practically dead-eyed throughout the entire film. Gal Gadot produces an unusually insipid performance as a generic femme fatale, Bishop. Even Ryan Reynolds struggles with the script, resulting in a character whose sole function is to generate a barrage of predominantly lame asides.
Ultimately, Red Notice struggles to emulate the sense of adventure of Raiders Of The Lost Ark or The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn, the very films it is trying to emulate. The unsophisticated storyline results in a film that feels the need to do everything bigger and brasher than its contemporaries. Nonetheless, Red Notice remains Netflix's most-watched film on the first day of release, as well as the opening weekend. A sequel would appear inevitable. Sigh.
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