Red Notice

The combined charisma of Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot propels Netflix's pricey project to entertaining heights.

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A lot of folks have dogpiled on Netflix’s “Red Notice” (available in select theaters beginning Friday, Nov. 5 and to stream Friday, Nov. 12) from right out the gate. Is the movie original? Oh, hell no! Is it entertaining? Oh, hell yes!

Dwayne Johnson stars as John Hartley, an FBI behavior analyst who collaborates with Interpol Inspector Urvashi Das (Ritu Arya of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy”) to stop world-renowned art thief Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) from stealing one of Cleopatra’s three priceless bejeweled golden eggs. Hartley received intel on Booth’s job from The Bishop (Gal Gadot), a rival art thief looking to profit from his peril.

The Bishop kills two birds with one stone by absconding with the egg and wiring a considerable amount of cash to an offshore bank account belonging to Hartley. Das disbelieving Hartley’s innocence throws both he and Booth into a Russian gulag where they’re bunkmates. Booth, an escape artist who’ll earn a “Shawshank jacket” with his next prison break, knows where the other eggs reside (one of which is in the possession of diminutive arms dealer Sotto Voce (Chris Diamantopoulos, sporting creepy blue contacts and a strange accent)) and cajoles Hartley into busting out so they can bust The Bishop.

I won’t lie to y’all – “Red Notice” plays like an almost two hour advertisement for Reynolds’ Aviation Gin and Johnson’s Teremana tequila (I half-expected Gadot to start shilling for the Israel Defense Forces) mixed with the greatest hits of Johnson’s film career (“The Rundown,” “Fast & Furious 6” and his “Jumanji” pictures all sprang to mind). Some of Reynolds’ recent output (“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” flicks, “6 Underground”) are reference points as well.

A lot of what makes “Red Notice” work is the chemistry of its starry cast. This is the third movie Johnson and Gadot have appeared in together (after “Fast Five” and the aforementioned “Fast & Furious 6”), the second movie Johnson and Reynolds have appeared in together (the first being “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”) and the second film Gadot and Reynolds have appeared in together (the first being “Criminal”). It’s obvious these folks like and work well with one another and that translates to the screen.

Johnson actually has sexual chemistry with a co-star for once! (Granted, Gadot could have sexual chemistry with a rock let alone The Rock.) Gadot entertainingly embodies Bugs Bunny by antagonizing Johnson and Reynolds’ befuddled Elmer Fudd’s. Reynolds is the clear standout of the bunch – the dude’s drop dead funny here. I don’t know how much of this is attributable to writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber’s script or if Reynolds was simply riffing this shit? (I sorta suspect the latter.) He’s every bit as funny here as he was in “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder,” “Deadpool” and “Deadpool 2” … if not funnier.

Speaking of Thurber, I’m generally a fan of his. “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” is one of the funniest comedies of the early-to-mid 2000s. Thurber’s “Towering Inferno”/”Die Hard” homage “Skyscraper” (his second collaboration with Johnson after the so-so “Central Intelligence”) was surprisingly effective. Thurber successfully manages to infuse “Red Notice” with the laughs of “Dodgeball” (seriously, Reynolds slays here) and the action of “Skyscraper” (an early foot chase incorporates scaffolding like it’s a Jackie Chan flick, the prison break employs a helicopter, suspension bridge and rocket launcher to awesome effect and a cave-based car chase kinda calls to mind “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Broken Arrow” and “The Rock”). Admittedly, the bloom does come off the rose a bit due to some instances of shoddy CGI and green screen. Also, this globe-trotting adventure was filmed primarily in Atlanta (with brief pit stops in Rome and Sardinia, Italy) due to COVID-19 concerns, which limits its scope a tad.

“Red Notice” made for a fun two hours shared with my wife over a coupla rum and Cokes and lots of laughs. It’s perfect Friday or Saturday night entertainment. The movie leaves itself wide open for a sequel, which while not most wanted is certainly desirable … especially if Johnson, Reynolds, Gadot and Thurber return.