Red Notice (2021) Reviews

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, like every year, Netflix tried again to release a big blockbuster (with a budget of $200 million, it was even Netflix’s most expensive movie so far) but, even though it was certainly a decent attempt, probably their best one so far, they are not there yet, I’m afraid. My advice would be that they don’t spend so much money to get some very expensive stars (Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot apparently all got $20 million each for their roles) but that they focus instead on getting a better director and, above all, a better story. Indeed, even though I always had a weak spot for movies dealing with thieves and con artists, the beginning was too generic and rather weak.  Fortunately, as soon as Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds got stuck in this Russian prison and started to reluctantly work together, it finally started to be more entertaining. Sure, Johnson and Reynolds basically played the same characters they have played time and time again before in the past but, still, their banter was quite fun. Concerning Gal Gadot, she was also pretty good and she obviously had fun with this role which, in contrary to her male counterparts, really differed from what she had done before, but I wish they gave her more to do. Furthermore, it is one thing to write a movie about some super smarts thieves but, to make them show up randomly and magically anywhere in the world is just downright lazy, especially if you keep repeating this gimmick again and again. Anyway, to conclude, even if this movie definitely didn't deserve such an expensive price tag, it was still fairly entertaining, even if it was still completely forgettable.