Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Writer: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Ritu Arya, and Chris Diamantopoulos

Rating: ★★★½

Ryan Reynolds is becoming the Adam Sandler of big budget action comedies. You know what you’re getting going in and you either love him or hate him for it. Add on Fast & Furious alumni Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot, and you have three of the biggest stars in the world in an action comedy that travels the world with some insane and stupid moments and a lot of laughs along the way.

Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) is an international thief with a mission; to steal all three of Cleopatra’s eggs and sell them to a high bidder. After stealing the first egg, he is caught by John Harley (Dwayne Johnson) and is sent to prison. While transporting the egg it is stolen by Nolan’s nemesis The Bishop (Gal Gadot). The Bishop also frames John as part of her plot, getting him sent to the same prison that Nolan is currently in. They are forced to work together to escape the prison and stop The Bishop, so they can clear John’s name and Nolan can steal the last two eggs.

This film is ridiculous and over the top, with so many stupid moments that don’t really make sense the more you think about it, but that really doesn’t matter. With something like this it’s best to switch off and just enjoy it. It’s loud, dumb and entertaining. To be honest, it’s exactly what you want from an action comedy. Ryan Reynolds has completely redeemed himself after The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard.

There are so many jokes in this film, and while a few of them don’t land, more than enough of them do. It has a good amount of laugh out loud moments and is a really good time. It’s not something that’s going to stay with you a long time after watching it, but it’s great while it lasts. It’s essentially an Indiana Jones film with criminals and Interpol at the centre. The plot even moves into Nazi treasure towards the end.

Ryan Reynolds is doing what he does best, with snarky humour, and plays off brilliantly with Dwayne Johnson. Gal Gadot is also great as the mastermind thief who’s always one step ahead of the duo. The film is at its best when the three of them are on screen together, with jokes just bouncing off each other. Even though the film is close to two hours, it never feels slow or boring, there’s always something to laugh about, whether it’s the over-the-top humour, silly violence or the many twists and turns along the way.

Red Notice thankfully isn’t another star-studded action-comedy failure. There’s a lot of laughs, the characters are great and it’s just a good time from start to finish. It sets up a sequel, and hopefully it happens.

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