Red Notice has no consequences. It’s a cat-and-mouse game. Neither the mouse nor the cat seem to enjoy the game so they decide to relax and let go midway. It’s not worth it to tire yourself out when the end result is the same.
The star vehicle is slick and boring. It was designed to be as down-the-middle and generic as possible. Dwayne Johnson stars as an FBI profiler, while Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot play a pair master thieves. There are some quips (courtesy Reynolds, on autopilot), and kicks (Gadot), along with a double-cross or two that could not be more important. Red Notice isn’t going to change your life in any way. It’s there just as a lamp in background.
Johnson is John Hartley, an agent that is looking for three priceless artifacts that were once the property of Cleopatra. Nolan Booth (Reynolds), an irritable thief who robs for the sheer thrill of it, is on Hartley’s trail. A chase ensues.
Nolan shakes John but John quickly gets his man. John and Nolan end up in a Russian prison together after some computer manipulation. John seems to be the victim of hacking by a master criminal, who goes under the name The Bishop. She is played by “Wonder Woman” Gadot.
John and Nolan do the mismatched friends thing — John replies, “We’re not friends,” John responds, “We’re best friends!” Nolan responds — as the action moves around the world. They are finally brought together by the Bishop. It’s much cheaper than going to Madame Tussauds and a lot more realistic.
Rawson Marshall Thurber is the writer-director and he teams up with Johnson for the third time. Johnson, Reynolds, and Gadot could as well have sent their avatars on the set to show the amount of work they put into it. The movie isn’t an insult. Intimidations require effort and that’s more that “Red Notice” can offer. An insult can be remembered, which is more than any other feature in “Red Notice”.
