REVIEW: Red Notice

Yet another Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Rawson Thurber film dropped on Netflix, known as “Red Notice.” I tried to prepare myself for a mediocre film focused on action fan service and jokes, but I may have given the film too little credit. The movie might even be (dare I say it?) underrated.

Named after the highest level of arrest warrant issued by Interpol, the movie focuses on the attempted heist of fictional prized treasures known as Cleopatra’s Eggs, only two of which have been uncovered. FBI profiler John Hartley, played by Johnson, must team up with art thief Nolan Boothe, played by Ryan Renolds, to prevent mysterious mastermind The Bishop, played by Gal Gadot, from stealing the eggs.

Though it felt staged at times, the movie was filled with attention grabbing action sequences, and the twists and turns will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you know where the movie is going from the beginning, no you don’t, because even when I felt like I knew exactly what was next I still found myself surprised.

Although the movie did absolutely awfully with critics, I’m not sure it deserves that hate. With a price tag of nearly 200 million dollars, the most costly film in Netflix history, “Red Notice” also garnered enough attention to bring Netflix their biggest opening day ever. Though the movie was well made, it also appears that most of that money was spent on the star-studded cast, which only continues to reveal itself as the movie progresses. That is the one thing about this movie–it does not take a single risk. Though witty at times, and ultimately very entertaining, it feels like a vanilla blend of every heist and spy movie ever made.