Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot chase ancient treasures in a movie that wants to be the new Indiana Jones.
FBI agent John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) wants to catch one of the most famous art thieves in the world, dexterous Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) - he is just planning to steal one of the "Cleopatra eggs". The arrest is successful, but from under the agent's nose the artifact is stolen by the even more successful elephant thief (Gal Gadot), after which, through cunning manipulations, he puts Hartley in prison. And the same one where Booth is already sitting. Together they will have to come up with a plan to get out of prison and find all three eggs before the Elephant in order to clear John's name, catch the criminal and at the same time make Nolan the greatest thief in the world again. There is a catch. No one knows where the third egg is for over two thousand years.
It is not very interesting to talk about "Red Notice" as a film - familiar phrases describe it much better than any film-critical terms: this is the same "movie for the evening", "with a beer", which will hardly upset anyone, but will definitely be forgotten about a minute after the end credits started. In general, the ideal cinematic equivalent of the word "content" is a soulless and devoid of any artistry product that will surely set a couple of records for views on Netflix (already set) and safely go into oblivion. Until, of course, the exact same stupid sequel is released to it.
Another thing is interesting here: "Red Notice" is currently the most expensive Netflix project and, accordingly, one of the highest-budget films of the year. And in this sense, he acts as an excellent anamnesis of all modern Hollywood, a kind of quintessence of what almost all large studios are now striving for in their strange desire to shoot the most dull action movie as possible. This is a film that seemed to be made according to a textbook, according to a hundred times tested scheme of an ideal blockbuster: a huge budget, many locations, world stars in the lead roles, an ultimately poignant story about antique artifacts and Nazi gold. But at the same time, all living things were pumped out of the formula, leaving only the plastic shell and obsessive nods towards other films: here the music is almost "Bond", and "Indiana Jones" hangs over the characters with a terrible shadow (at one point Reynolds even whistles the famous melody of John Williams ). This is probably how the creators wanted to draw a line and indicate the continuity of the past - but instead of this, the references only constantly remind that outside of the "Red Notice" there is also a really good adventure movie.
What's the point of your big budget if all the percussion scenes (of which there are three) are still poorly drawn on the computer? Why fly to different countries and boast about it in promotional materials, so that later on the whole film you can shoot the actors in close-up against the background of a chroma key? Why the catchy details about Nazi gold and the Cleopatra myths, if the plot still focuses on preschool-level Freudian psychology and Reynolds childhood traumas (just like in another bad blockbuster with Ryan, "The Bodyguard of the Killer's Wife"), and the only unexpected plot move can be predicted in about an hour?
Every scene in The Red Notice reminds us that this is a movie made by people with a pathological hatred of creative risks and any kind of creativity in general. That director Rawson Marshall Thurber, author of "Skyscraper" and "Spy One and a Half" - films that stand out for their ringing mediocrity even against the background of Dwayne Johnson's already small filmography. That the Rock himself, with the acquisition of star status, apparently decided to completely abandon at least some non-standard images (no more crazy drug addicts from "Blood and Sweat"). That Reynolds, since the release of Deadpool, has never played anyone other than Ryan Reynolds. Against their background, Gal Gadot with one grin for the entire film looks almost interesting - although he also does nothing special.
Despite all this negativity, Red Notice is worth a look. But not to have a good evening - only Reynolds' taunts are pleasing here, and then one in ten - but to see what kind of blockbusters we should expect in the new era of streaming. "Bond" is over, and it is not known when (and how) it will return; Tom Cruise will soon be quite old; Marvel got scared of Sam Raimi and are gradually leaving for Disney +; Nolan stopped collecting money; Villeneuve is more interested in looking at the sand than making a movie; someday, maybe George Miller will make a new Mad Max, if he has time. Big cinema is run by people who have no idea how to shoot action, and any efforts of their stunt coordinators (probably very talented) are ruined by editing. Only smaller films are trying, but those will never see such fees and budgets. The plastic world has won.
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