Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Rita Arya, Chris Diamantopoulos
Distributor: Netflix
Runtime: 118 mins. Reviewed in Nov 2021
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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A heist caper… And then some! World-renowned art thieves steal precious antiquities, especially three eggs allegedly belonging to Cleopatra. They are pursued around the world by Interpol and the FBI. Glamorous settings, adventure and witty comedy.
Looking for pacy action entertainment? Try Red Notice.
Most of us enjoy, at least sometimes, some escapist entertainment. Escape and escapism are key to Red Notice. The three central characters – individually, in pairs or together – spend a lot of their time escaping – and in attractively exotic locations, starting with Rome and the Castel San Angelo and its museum, transitioning to Bali and a jungle hideaway, an episode in a remote Russian prison in the mountains, then to Valencia, including an escape from a bull in an arena, and a trek through the Argentinian jungle to a Nazi hideaway in a deserted copper mine with extensive abandoned tunnels ready for a car chase including a 1931 Mercedes-Benz with gold plate. There is a visit to a lavish social wedding in Cairo where Ed Sheeran as his singing self has to escape the mayhem. One is inclined to add, ‘who could ask for anything more?’.
This kind of film used to be called a heist caper. Perhaps that’s what they are still called – and this one fulfils the definition, elaborate heist, comedy action and caper.
And the red notice? We are told at once that it is a mark from Interpol, signalling the chief suspect they are pursuing. This time it is an art thief, Nolan Booth, who prides himself on being the best in the world. He is played by Ryan Reynolds in his affable, sometimes aw-shucks persona, quite self-centred (explaining his resentment against his police officer father), but shrewd and well-organised in his thefts and escapes. In pursuit is an FBI agent, John Hartley, Dwayne Johnson in an authority role. But, the mysterious character who claims to their best art thief in the world is The Bishop, revealed to be a female with ecclesiastical nomination, played by Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot (who has not lost any of the skills she acquired way back in her Amazon days).
The target of the thefts is a group of three eggs, alleged to belong to Cleopatra.
Booth and Hartley have to spend a long time together, sometime in hard labour in the Russian prison, other times being tortured by a diminutive greedy Spanish entrepreneur with a distinctive voice, his character called Sotto Voce, trekking through the jungle and finding the art cache, Booth whistling the Indiana Jones theme as they arrive.
The screenplay is often witty, all kinds of quips and jokes and the writer-director, Rawson Marshall Thurber, who enjoys working with Dwayne Johnson (Central Intelligence, Skyscraper) might have called this film ‘Bromancing the Egg’. And entertaining references to a range of films, including mixing up David Attenborough’s documentaries and Richard Attenborough the palaeontologist in Jurassic Park!
Since the characters are specialists in fraud, are expert in, artistry, the screenplay has lots of misdirection of attention for the audience and plenty of twists and turns. Entertaining.
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