Red Notice
Summary:
Red Notice follows the adventure of art thief Nolan Booth and Special Agent Hartley. After The Bishop stole one of Cleopatra’s eggs from Booth, and Hartley was framed for stealing, the two are sent to a Russian prison. There, they formed an uneasy alliance to escape and achieve their own goals, Booth’s to get the remaining egg, and Hartley to capture The Bishop, who framed him.
Characters:
Nolan Booth is the greatest art thief in the world, until he was captured by Special Agent Hartley. Booth is a carefree person who cracks jokes at any opportunity. Hartley is an FBI agent who was wrongly accused of a crime. Hartley became a cop to be better than his father. The Bishop is the one pulling strings in the background that led to Booth’s arrest and Hartley’s framing.
Review:
In one word, I would describe Red Notice as a fun movie. From the plot, to the characters, everything about this movie was a nice mix of comedy and action. If those are the kinds of genres you enjoy, then this movie will be for you.
The only real downside to this movie is that it’s simple. Now, this can be a good or bad thing depending on your tastes. If you were hoping for some deeper meaning to Red Notice, then you won’t find it here. But if you’re watching this movie for a good time, then you’re in the right place.
Now, positives. For one, I really, really liked the characters in this movie, especially the relationship between Booth and Hartley. I loved the small banter between the two characters, and the subtle increase in trust as the movie goes on. The relationship feels natural, and it was fun to watch their interactions with each other. The plot was also fun too. Although not too complicated, it was still fun to follow along, as the protagonists travel in search for the artifact. The twists were fun too. Some people might find them predictable, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.Overall, Red Notice is a fun movie. If you’re looking for a movie to kick back and relax to, then Red Notice is the way to go. With fun character interactions, you’ll have no matter what’s happening on screen.
Favourite Moment (Spoilers):
My favourite moment in Red Notice was when the final twist of The Bishop was revealed. After a whole movie filled with many plot twists, I loved how it ended with one more at the end to seal the deal.
Review:
This movie is perfect for one of those films where you just want to have a good time. You know where it’s got some cool action scenes and funny characters that you enjoy following. Now this movie has some really good actors starring in this with Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds really carrying this movie and even during the not so great parts they made it fun. However, if you don’t like their typical performances then this movie isn’t for you as they are doing the usual thing that has made them so popular. This film does have a typical story with a big scale as it is a globetrotting heist adventure with many exotic locations and an ancient treasure no one’s seen in hundreds of years. Now I do like the way they incorporated history into the plot with the story of Cleopatra and some World War 2 history and I thought when the movie leaned into that it was more its own thing. The characters like I said were all likeable and the pairing of Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds is super funny and I can’t believe this is the first time someone paired them up. Gal Gadot also does a good job as the “Bishop” getting to have a big personality and stepping outside her typical acting roles was cool to see. While I thought what they were stealing was cool the heists themselves were underwhelming. Most heist movies show you the planning process and make really big deals on certain details as they build anticipation towards the heist and make you nervous for the characters during the heist. Here, I found that they would arrive at the destination and then the heist would already be in progress or happen so quickly that it didn’t really feel that important. Also, there was a twist at the end that I can honestly say took me by surprise and I thought it added another element to the film. The film is at its best when it’s Johnson and Reynolds bickering while trying to beat the “Bishop”.
All in all, this is a really fun heist adventure movie that might not be my new favourite but I did quite enjoy it. So yes if you’re looking for a good popcorn movie then I would recommend hopping on Netflix and checking this out!
Favourite Moment (Spoilers):
My favourite moment was the whole prison scene. I thought it did a good job establishing Dwayne and Ryan’s dynamic and the escape scene was hilarious with some really cool action.
Review:
Red Notice is an action comedy that is beyond entertaining. The plot is a little bit soft for a two hour movie, and it didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat the entire way through, but it was still pretty solid. I do think Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds carried this movie through a couple of rough patches, and made it way more entertaining. That being said, like Sebastian mentioned, if you can’t stand them, I would avoid this movie like the plague. It relies on their acting and humour, so that could be bad if you aren’t a fan.
The movie itself takes a very interesting route, a heist movie with a ton of jokes. It turned out to be quite entertaining because the movie never got too dark or too high. The jokes were well timed, and they fit the plot. The most important thing for me was that the jokes didn’t ever feel forced, and they didn’t interrupt the story being told. Everything meshed together quite nicely, and it made for a fun movie. The plot behind Red Notice is pretty simple, almost thin at points. It isn’t overly predictable, but I thought there just wasn’t enough put into certain scenes along the way. They felt almost empty, like a piece was missing, and it made it feel a little bit slow at points.
Obviously, this movie comes with a massive budget and some great actors, and almost unfortunately, that is what makes this movie great. If you didn’t have Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds, or the Rock, this movie just isn’t the same. The characters are written splendidly, fit like a glove for the actors. They flow through the movie quite well, and it’s easy to root for them, even if they are on the wrong side of the good-scale. The issue I have with our characters comes back to the plot. I thought this movie over-compensated a bit with the characters, tried to hide the shortcomings of the plot. Which isn’t bad because I loved the characters and the actors, but if you can’t stand the characters or if you have an issue with any of the main actors, this movie is going to be terrible. I really enjoyed Red Notice, even if it isn’t one of Netflix’s finest works. Depending on your thoughts on the characters and the actors, this could be a really good movie or a really bad movie. Would have loved a little bit more thought put into the plot instead of just throwing money at the wall.
Favourite Moment (Spoilers):
The best scene in this movie has to be the very first heist. From the coke on the fake egg, to the Rock chasing Ryan Reynolds all over the place, it was super funny and really captured what this movie set out to accomplish.
