RED NOTICE
US, 2021, 118 minutes, Colour.
Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Rita Arya, Chris Diamantopoulos.
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.
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, either individually or in pairs or in the trio itself, spent 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, even 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 also a visit to a lavish social wedding in Cairo where Ed Sherran 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. And 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, interesting to see 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 very 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.
- Heist caper? Entertaining? Action? Comedy? And something of a travelogue?
- The stars and their status? Taking on these characters? Interactions? Action and threats? Comic interactions?
- The range of locations and audience delight, the variety of locations? Rome, Castel San Angelo and galleries, Bali and the jungle, the Russian mountain prison, Valencia and the prison as well as the bullring, the Argentinian jungle, the Nazi storehouse, mine and tunnels? Episodes in Egypt? The musical score?
- The basic heist and caper, the Cleopatra eggs, the desire to possess them?
- The introduction to Nolan Booth, Ryan Reynolds character, seemingly unassuming, seemingly naive, yet shrewd, able to play people off one another? The stealing of the egg, the pursuit, his escape to Bali, his being found, in prison with John, the parody of prison sequences, bonding, the escape, the encounter with the Bishop, plans, with John to Argentina, the hideaway, the touch of Indiana Jones? His skill at playing people off each other, seeming friendship, easy betrayals?
- Dwayne Johnson as John Hartley, the FBI, presence in Rome, the pursuit, tracking Booth to Bali, their being taken, in the Russian prison, tough scenes, the escape, Booth’s ingenuity for keys, bricks, getting away? The encounter with the Bishop, confrontations with her, the fights? In Argentina, the hideaway, finding the egg, the escape in the Mercedes-Benz, crashes, saving the egg and the revelation that he was in partnership with the Bishop?
- Gal Gadot as the Bishop, memories of Wonder Woman, turning up, suave, the best art thief, confrontations with the two men, continued pursuit, turning up in Argentina, the revelation of the truth, the set-ups?
- The interlude in Egypt, the wedding, the gift of the eggs, the invasion of the FBI, Ed Sheeran and his performance?
- The comedy lines, references to films, in jokes?
- A good example of this kind of escapist humour – and plenty of escapes!
