red notice movie review

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Rawson Marshall Thurber ’s “Red Notice” should work on paper. It’s got a charismatic cast sent globe-hopping to beautiful places on a treasure hunt straight out of an “Indiana Jones” movie. How could it go wrong? Well, for starters, Thurber and everyone involved forgot a little thing called personality. Rarely have I seen a movie that feels more processed by a machine, a product for a content algorithm instead of anything approaching artistic intent or even an honest desire to entertain. And while there have been quality blockbusters produced by the Hollywood machine for generations (I miss those days), it feels like we’re increasingly reaching the point where they are so calculated and programmed that the human element is completely drained from them, making them as disposable as a fast food cheeseburger. Worst of all, that “content” approach is pulling the life from stars who have shown so much of it in the past. When the poster for “Red Notice” was released, most people lamented its Photoshopped, bland nature. They didn’t realize how honestly it captured the movie.

Thurber, the director of “ Central Intelligence ” and “ Skyscraper ” (two movies I enjoyed enough on their own terms, for the record), reunites with his muse, Dwayne Johnson , who plays the FBI’s top profiler John Hartley. The film opens with an awkwardly inserted info dump about three coveted eggs that were once the property of Cleopatra. Only two have been discovered, making the missing golden egg into a Holy Grail for treasure hunters, including one of the world’s most notorious criminals Nolan Booth ( Ryan Reynolds ). In the film’s relatively effective opening sequence, Hartley catches Booth trying to steal one of the eggs, inadvertently tying the two for the rest of the film into a classic buddy comedy dynamic—the muscle guy and the fast talker. They battle the authorities, a few bad guys, and another criminal mastermind nicknamed The Bishop ( Gal Gadot ) as they bounce around the world, trying to obtain all three eggs and sell them to the highest bidder.

Films like “ Raiders of the Lost Ark ” and “ National Treasure ” were clear inspirations on “Red Notice” but to say this movies lacks the identity of great action/adventure movies would be an understatement. Thurber’s direction seems to have been simply to put Reynolds, Johnson, and Gadot on camera and allow their screen presence and familiar techniques to carry the story, and one can literally see the weight of that on their shoulders. Johnson has never been this wooden, unable to find the hero or everyman in a non-character. He needs to figure out what's next because he seems to be tired of parts like this one and he's too charismatic to convey tired for the next chapter of his career. Reynolds makes out a little better, but you can almost see him growing weary of his attempts at witty schtick as more of his attempts at humor thud than usual. It feels like everyone thought casting would be all it took to make “Red Notice” charming and then forgot to give their actors charming things to actually do. Oh, there’s a lot of running and a lot of banter, but it starts to blend into cinematic paste.

People have lamented the growing sensation that Netflix increasingly makes product that’s designed to be watched with a phone in your hand, and I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this more strongly than while watching “Red Notice.” Made for $200 million, none of that fortune was spent on anything that retains a human touch—it’s the iPhone app of action movies. Look up and see a beautiful person in a beautiful place running or shooting something—go back to your phone. While there are some truly goofy and yet somehow predictable twists, there’s almost no real story here, certainly not a memorable one. And the settings, while often gorgeous, somehow lack personality too. Even the title sounds like something grabbed out of an Action Movie Screenwriter program.

So much money, so much charm, so much movie, and yet it adds up to so very little. “Red Notice” is as disposable a movie as you’ll see this year, something that most Netflix subscribers will have trouble remembering exists weeks later. It sets up a potential franchise in its final scenes (because of course it does)—let’s hope everyone involved forgets about that too.

In theaters tonight, November 4 th . On Netflix on November 12 th .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Red Notice (2021)

Rated PG-13 for violence and action, some sexual references, and strong language.

116 minutes

Dwayne Johnson as John Hartley

Ryan Reynolds as Nolan Booth

Gal Gadot as Sarah Black

Ritu Arya as Inspector Urvashi Das

Chris Diamantopoulos as Sotto Voce

• Rawson Marshall Thurber
• Michael L. Sale
• Julian Clarke

Cinematographer

• Markus Förderer
• Steve Jablonsky

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‘Red Notice’ Review: When the Stars Don’t Shine

This globe-trotting heist thriller starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot is yet another vacant bid at franchise creation.

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‘Red Notice’ | Anatomy of a Scene

Rawson marshall thurber narrates a sequence from his film..

“Hi, I’m Rawson Marshall Thurber. I’m the writer/director of Red Notice.” “He knows what he’s doing.” “Red Notice opens with John Hartley, an FBI profiler played by Dwayne Johnson, arriving at the Castle Sant’Angelo Museum to try to stop Nolan Booth, played by Ryan Reynolds, from stealing a priceless egg. So John Hartley has come in, and he’s realized that this egg is probably not the real one. And he decides to prove it by grabbing a nearby soda and pouring it on top of the egg and watching as the egg melts in front of his eyes. And the moment he does, he spots Nolan Booth, Ryan Reynolds, take off. And that begins our chase. I wanted to start the movie off with a bang, and I thought a foot chase through the museum might be a fun way to do it. Because of some of the restrictions put on us from the pandemic, we couldn’t leave Atlanta. So we had to build the entire museum on a soundstage in Atlanta. We had an incredible production design team led by Andy Nicholson, Academy Award nominee. And he and his team built the entire museum inside. And if you watch the sequence, Ryan and Dwayne chase each other through hallways. And oftentimes what we would do is have them run through one hallway, and then overnight, we would change it over to look like a different hallway, and they’d run back the other way. And if you didn’t know it, you wouldn’t know it. It’s part of movie magic. So we kept reusing the sets over and over, rebuilding them, redressing them, and got ourselves a pretty cool foot chase to start things off. On top of which, we wanted to add some dynamic camera movement to the opening chase. So not only were we in a handheld mode, but we also added a piece of technology that is not used very often. We used a tiny little camera called a Komodo Cam, created by the Red Digital camera system. And it’s about the size of a tissue box, and we attached that camera to a race drone. And we chased Ryan and Dwayne through our sets as they ran hither and thither, and it got us some pretty great shots. As you’ll see, certainly when Ryan comes into the big scaffolding room and he goes running and jumps over the table, the camera that follows him and chases him all the way up onto the scaffolding is our Komodo Cam, our race drone operated by the world renowned Johnny FPV I wanted the chase to be fun. I wanted it to be fast. I wanted to show Ryan’s character, Nolan Booth, that he’s someone who out-thinks problems. He would rather trick you than try to punch you. And so what I liked about the scaffolding sequence is that Nolan Booth never throws a punch. Ryan never throws a punch. He’s bobbing and weaving, ducking and dodging and using his wits to outsmart the security guards trying to chase him. And to me, that’s much more fun than simply pulling out a gun and shooting at people. We had a great stunt team that started to design the actual sequence in terms of the pratfalls and the gags. At the end of the sequence, Ryan pulls a final pin, and the entire scaffolding collapses. What we had to do is, of course, shoot every single piece of it before we collapsed the scaffolding. And then overnight, our special effects team and rigging technicians set the scaffolding to blow and fall. And then you set up about eight or nine cameras, because you really only want to do this once. And then everybody gets safe, and on the count of three, they hit the button, and the whole thing collapses. And we got it in one take.”

By Beatrice Loayza

At some point between Dwayne Johnson’s early years as a pro-wrestler and his rise to becoming one of the highest-paid actors in the biz today, something about him fizzled out. The action star rose because of his cocky charm and the ease with which he imparted a leonine intensity, shifting to softy mode at the drop of a hat. When Hollywood began relying increasingly on green screens, Johnson stood out, larger-than-life, against muddy digital backdrops of crumbling cities and candy-colored jungles. Yet I find myself missing the days when his eyebrows did all the work.

Case in point: “Red Notice,” the actor’s latest collaboration with the writer and director Rawson Marshall Thurber (“Skyscraper,” “Central Intelligence”). In this Netflix adventure movie about cops and art thieves in search of a rare treasure, Johnson goes through the motions with none of the pizazz. He’s practically dead-eyed, as if his soul has been sapped by the corporate overlords who roll out mediocrity after mediocrity with his name on the marquee. Our eyes gravitate toward him, though lately only for one good reason: he’s massive. Cue a completely out-of-the-blue face-off with a raging bull. (Yes this happens.)

Thing is, we already know he’s the biggest and toughest there ever was. Johnson knows this as well. His unwillingness to break with this persona has begun to feel played out, not least of all because he seems bored doing it.

In the film, Johnson plays John Hartley, an FBI profiler forced to team up with the expert art thief Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) when he is framed by “The Bishop” (Gal Gadot), a rival art thief with a penchant for sabotage. Together they form a triumvirate of stereotypes: the lawful strongman, the cunning jester and the femme fatale. Constant rug-pullings complicate this equation, though not in any genuinely surprising ways — the performances are too sleepy and perfunctory to pull off the film’s many tricks and double-crossings with any flair or umph. And then there’s the script, which turns Reynolds into a cursed generator of lame quips. Listen closely and you might even hear notes of regret in his delivery.

The plot involves an Indiana Jones-style race to track down and possess Cleopatra’s three golden eggs. In Rome, Booth outmaneuvers Hartley after a mad dash through an art museum, though fate catches up to him in Bali. The two become buddies in a Russian prison and eventually head to a gala in Valencia, then an underground lair in a South American jungle.

But globe-trotting loses all its fun when everything looks plastic. And for a heist movie seemingly planting the seeds for a franchise in the vein of “The Mummy” or “National Treasure” movies, there’s no sense of discovery, no anticipatory thrills as our heroes find and connect the clues. Uninterested in world building or creating any sense of stakes, “Red Notice” is merely an expensive brandishing of star power — only the stars haven’t got it in them.

Red Notice Rated PG-13 for bloodless violence, action, and sexual references. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. Watch on Netflix.

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Red Notice Reviews

The biggest surprise of 2021 for me… none of the trailers really grabbed my attention but damn does the movie work. With its charm, great humor, & excellent chase sequences that add some amazing adrenaline ! Give me more of The Rock, Gal, & Ryan!!

Full Review | Jul 26, 2023

If you want some substance to your fun that calls to memory Spielberg’s Indiana Jones films or even the weaker, but still engaging, National Treasure movies, then this isn’t your movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 26, 2022

Red Notice is an enjoyable action diversion.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 21, 2022

Red Notice is one of those absurd Abbas-Mustan-style campfests with so many random twists and double-crosses that only great actors or terrible actors can pull them off.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 25, 2022

Efficiently kills a couple of hours without stealing our hearts.

Full Review | Jun 23, 2022

Red Notice is vastly less than the sum of its parts, with the central trio saving it from mediocrity. It's a perfectly acceptable and decently entertaining 200 million action epic, but nothing more.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 28, 2022

The most expensive and successful Netflix original film yet, watching Red Notice is like watching the feature-length version of a fake movie inside another movie; its cliched, over-the-top, and plays out like a parody of itself.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Feb 28, 2022

This blatantly silly movie is the absolute best possible version of itself it's funny, has some exciting chase scenes, and is altogether the Platonic ideal of a 7/10 movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 24, 2022

The cheesy elements combined with the flat characters, that were brought to life by extraordinary talent, left Red Notice struggling from the very start.

Full Review | Feb 15, 2022

Theres a cold, almost algorithmic quality to the film and its performances, to the extent that calling Red Notice an original conceit feels disingenuous.

Full Review | Feb 9, 2022

it is definitely entertaining and hits a few high notes here and there, especially when Reynolds's banter runs headlong into Dwayne Johnson's straight-man stoicism

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 5, 2022

Red Notice delivers on its promise; good action, charm, absurd journey. A film worth watching for a goofy good time.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 2, 2022

As mindless entertainment built on silly jokes, a thin plot, visual effects and window dressing, Red Notice is a 117-minute distraction, easily forgotten in half that time.

Full Review | Dec 30, 2021

Red Notice is proof that one can hire the best talent and put them in a room, but the effort amounts to wasted potential without a good script or strong direction.

Full Review | Dec 27, 2021

...a relentlessly slick endeavor that's rarely, if ever, as engrossing or exciting as one might've anticipated...

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 21, 2021

Escapist fun is rarely smart and doesn't carry much depth, but the nice thing here is that the humor outweighs the mindless action.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Dec 20, 2021

I also have already forgotten it, and I bet you do, too, ten minutes after seeing it.

Full Review | Dec 19, 2021

Rawson Marshall Thurber's clever script is a shell game of plot twists and head fakes which keeps daring you to notice, or care, that you're watching a scam, a forgery and a fiction. It

Full Review | Dec 11, 2021

Perfectly cast and perfectly balanced between comedy and thrills. Sign me up for the sequel.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 8, 2021

After about 30 minutes of this overblown, under-baked product, I decided that life's too short and hit the off button.

Full Review | Dec 4, 2021

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

An Interpol agent successfully tracks down the world's most wanted art thief with help from a rival thief. But nothing is as it seems as a series of double-crosses ensues. An Interpol agent successfully tracks down the world's most wanted art thief with help from a rival thief. But nothing is as it seems as a series of double-crosses ensues. An Interpol agent successfully tracks down the world's most wanted art thief with help from a rival thief. But nothing is as it seems as a series of double-crosses ensues.

• Rawson Marshall Thurber
• Dwayne Johnson
• Ryan Reynolds
• 1.8K User reviews
• 198 Critic reviews
• 37 Metascore
• 1 nomination

• John Hartley

• Nolan Booth

• Inspector Urvashi Das

• Director Gallo

• Security Chief Ricci

• Souvenir Stand Owner

• Gelato Truck Driver

• Museum Reporter …

• Moped Tourist

• Bali Van Driver

• Exhausted Film Director in Bar
• Handsome Bartender

• Prison Guard Sergeant

• Drago Grande
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia When Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) arrives at Sotto Voce's masquerade party, he hands security an invitation with a QR code on it. If you pause the scene and scan the code, it brings you to an unlisted video with the movie's bloopers.
• Goofs This movie features the characters being pursued by an agent of Interpol. The agent is armed and attempts to arrest them. Interpol is NOT a law enforcement agency; the agents have no law enforcement power and do not carry arms. Interpol is an inter-governmental organization of member countries that assist police by sharing data and providing technical and operational support.

Nolan Booth : [to Hartley] Why are you wearing the hairnet? You're bald.

• Crazy credits After the credits have finished rolling you hear Gal Gadot say "Don't miss me too much. Ta Ta."
• Connections Featured in Badshah, DIVINE, Jonita Gandhi, Mikey McCleary: Bach Ke Rehna (Red Notice) (2021)
• Soundtracks Sabotage Written and Performed by Beastie Boys Courtesy of Capitol Records, LLC Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User reviews 1.8K

• Dec 21, 2021
• How long is Red Notice? Powered by Alexa
• November 12, 2021 (United States)
• United States
• Official Netflix
• Lệnh Truy Nã Đỏ
• Rome, Italy
• Seven Bucks Productions
• Flynn Picture Company
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $200,000,000 (estimated)

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 58 minutes
• Dolby Surround 7.1
• Dolby Atmos

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Common sense media reviewers.

Language, violence in global cat-and-mouse caper.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Some loyalty and male bonding seen. Thieves use th

Everyone seems to have father issues in this film.

Characters are racially diverse and many have acce

Characters fight, kick, punch, hit. They get stran

Some jokes about penises and mention of "erection"

"F--k," "s--t," "bulls--t," "bitch," "son of a bit

Porsche, FBI, Interpol, Instagram, Segway, Jenga,

Characters drink alcohol in moderation in various

Parents need to know that Red Notice is a globetrotting action-adventure starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, and Dwayne Johnson. Expect lots of action violence: Characters fight, kick, punch, and hit, and they get strangled, tied up, electrocuted, chased and tossed by a bull, and poisoned. They fall from great…

Positive Messages

Some loyalty and male bonding seen. Thieves use their cunning and talents to escape situations.

Positive Role Models

Everyone seems to have father issues in this film. They explain away their own behavior based on the treatment (or lack of attention) they received from their dads. A female character outsmarts and outfights two men. Characters are driven by greed and/or pursuit of fame.

Diverse Representations

Characters are racially diverse and many have accents when speaking English. The film is set in countries around the world, including Egypt, Italy, Indonesia, Russia, England, Spain, Argentina, and France.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Characters fight, kick, punch, hit. They get strangled, tied up, electrocuted, chased and tossed by a bull, poisoned. They fall from great heights, get shot at, shoot at others, and are chased on foot, in cars, and by air. Bombs, explosions, fires, car crashes. A bridge collapses under a person. People are left wounded or unconscious. A man is said to have a penchant for strangling others ever since his dad tried to strangle him at 14; he later says he killed his dad by gunshot. Very brief mention of suicide and "black sites." Nazis and Nazi symbols play a role.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Some jokes about penises and mention of "erection" as well as other sexual innuendo. Two characters share a sexy dance. Men are seen from the waist up in a prison shower. Loaded mention of someone's browser history. A man says he could make a deepfake video of someone "mouth-sexing a goat."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"F--k," "s--t," "bulls--t," "bitch," "son of a bitch," "ass," "a--hole," "penis," "d--khead," "dip-d--k," "piss off," "idiot," "stupid." "God" and "Jesus" used as exclamations. It appears that prison guards' shirts read "HOMO" backward.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Porsche, FBI, Interpol, Instagram, Segway, Jenga, Alexa.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters drink alcohol in moderation in various scenes.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Red Notice is a globetrotting action-adventure starring Ryan Reynolds , Gal Gadot , and Dwayne Johnson . Expect lots of action violence: Characters fight, kick, punch, and hit, and they get strangled, tied up, electrocuted, chased and tossed by a bull, and poisoned. They fall from great heights, get shot at, shoot at others, and are chased on foot, in cars, and by air. There are bombs, explosions, fires, and car crashes. A bridge collapses under a person, and people are left wounded or unconscious. A character is said to have a penchant for strangling others ever since his dad tried to strangle him at 14; he later says he killed his dad by gunshot. There's very brief mention of suicide and "black sites." Nazis and Nazi symbols play a role. Language includes "f--k," "s--t," "bulls--t," "bitch," "son of a bitch," "ass," "a--hole," "penis," "d--khead," and "dip-d--k." It appears that prison guards' shirts read HOMO backward. There are some jokes about penises and mention of an "erection," as well as other sexual innuendo. A man says he could make a deepfake video of someone "mouth-sexing a goat." Characters all seem to have father issues. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (15)
• Kids say (64)

Based on 15 parent reviews

Fun action flick

What's the story.

In RED NOTICE, Nolan Booth ( Ryan Reynolds ) fashions himself as the world's greatest art thief, but he's continually shown up by a mystery thief who goes by the name The Bishop ( Gal Gadot ). When FBI agent John Hartley ( Dwayne Johnson ) teams up with Interpol agents, led by Inspector Das (Ritu Arya), to catch Booth, who is on Interpol's highest-level arrest warrant, The Bishop frames him in return, sending Booth and Hartley together first to prison and then on the lam. They and The Bishop are now all after a valuable antiquity -- Booth and Bishop for the million-dollar bounty, and Hartley to clear his name. But of course, nothing is as it appears, and the caper will take the players clear around the globe.

Is It Any Good?

This film would appear to have all the right ingredients for a franchise-ready adventure, yet something's notably off when the pieces are mixed together. Red Notice looks slick and boasts attractive A-list actors pulling fantastic stunts in gorgeous locations around the globe. It will find its audience. Gal Gadot is charmingly sadistic as the stunning and fierce Bishop, and she has a scene where she beats both her buff co-stars to a pulp. Dwayne Johnson plays straight man to Ryan Reynolds' tongue-in-cheek bad boy. But Reynolds' ironic one-liners come across as cloying, and his character grates on the nerves within minutes of the opening scene. There are a few very funny moments in the film, like a Russian guard liking a shirtless Putin pic on Instagram, or when Reynolds asks Johnson's character if he knows the back of his head looks like a giant male member, but mostly the banter is more obvious than amusing.

Why bother with so many international locations if the production is going to rely on stereotypes (e.g., bullfighting in Spain) and only the best-known landmarks (pyramids in Cairo, the Louvre in Paris)? Similarly, the script seems to have a constant need to overexplain things. Characters detail exactly what's just happened or is about to, in case you didn't quite get it. Gadot starts one such explanation with, "At the risk of stating the obvious," then goes on to do just that. Granted, in some cases they're lying, but it still slows (and dumbs) the action down in the moment. There's a scene where Reynolds is wearing an explorer's outfit and hat while he and Johnson crack into a Nazi crypt. The reference is obvious, but the direction still has Reynolds whistle the Indiana Jones theme song. It's as if the filmmakers don't trust us to get their references or their story points. But underestimating your audience can be insulting, and a few unanswered questions aren't always a bad thing.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the various locations in Red Notice . How does the story capitalize on its many locales? Would the story or film have changed much without so many settings? Why, or why not?

How would you describe each of the main characters? Did any remind you of characters from other films you've watched?

Was the story believable? Why, or why not? Does that make a difference in your enjoyment of it?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : November 12, 2021
• Cast : Dwayne Johnson , Ryan Reynolds , Gal Gadot
• Director : Rawson Marshall Thurber
• Inclusion Information : Black actors, Polynesian/Pacific Islander actors, Female actors, Middle Eastern/North African actors
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Adventures , Friendship , History
• Run time : 118 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : Violence and action, some sexual references, and strong language
• Last updated : February 17, 2023

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Dwayne johnson, ryan reynolds and gal gadot in netflix’s ‘red notice’: film review.

An FBI profiler is forced to mix it up with two rival art thieves on a globe-trotting hunt for ancient Egyptian treasure in Rawson Marshall Thurber’s action-adventure comedy thriller.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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You can’t argue with the muscular marquee value of headlining Dwayne Johnson , Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot in a slick, fast-paced action thriller laced with playful comedy, even if it’s an empty-calorie entertainment like Red Notice . Like many Netflix star vehicles, writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber ’s busy crime caper has more glossy industrial sheen than unique personality. But it’s diverting enough to justify the sequel so clearly set up in its final scenes, even if it’s unlikely to linger in the minds of many viewers beyond the end credits. Mostly, the derivative adventure keeps you occupied checking off the many films from which it borrows.

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Some of those, like the Indiana Jones movies, are acknowledged with a cheeky wink — for instance when Reynolds’ Nolan Booth, played with his trademark obnoxious smartass attitude, descends into a vault crammed with priceless antiquities looted by Nazis and whistles a couple of bars of John Williams’ Raiders of the Lost Ark theme. There are less overt but no less redolent inspirations throughout Red Notice — to the Bourne, Bond and Mission: Impossible movies, the National Treasure franchise and the Sean Connery-Catherine Zeta-Jones romp Entrapment . Maybe even a touch of Mr. & Mrs. Smith .

Release date : Friday, Nov. 12 Cast : Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Ritu Arya, Chris Diamantopoulos, Ivan Mbakop Director-screenwriter : Rawson Marshall Thurber

The production flashes the names of international locations spanning five continents across the screen at regular intervals, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, it ended up being shot entirely in Atlanta. Production designer Andy Nicholson has done a creditable job re-creating famous sites like Rome’s Castel Sant’Angelo in the buoyant opening scenes, though elsewhere, attentive eyes will be quick to spot studio sets. A South American jungle, complete with a waterfall and lagoon, almost conjures thoughts of the Maria Montez camp classic Cobra Woman .

A mock TV history special sets up the backstory with the mystery surrounding three bejeweled eggs, each one more exquisite than the last, presented to Cleopatra by Mark Antony on their wedding day. The eggs were long believed to be a myth, until two of them turned up in 1907; one now sits in a Rome museum and the other with a private collector. But the whereabouts of the third remain unknown.

Following an anonymous tip that notorious art criminal Nolan Booth is planning to lift the egg displayed at Castel Sant’Angelo, FBI behavioral analysis unit profiler John Hartley (Johnson) intervenes before the thief can exit the museum, triggering an accelerated chase through the Roman monument and surrounding streets that also involves Interpol inspector Urvashi Das (Ritu Arya).

She seems less than thrilled with the unsolicited collaboration of Hartley, even more so when they both turn up to apprehend slippery Nolan and retrieve the treasure from his swanky pad in tropical Bali. When the egg again goes missing — with a fake being switched for the real thing — and a hefty cash transfer lands in Hartley’s account, Inspector Das presumes he’s in on the theft and adds him to her wanted list. The top-level international arrest warrant is called a “red notice,” hence the film’s generic title.

Through some fuzzy plotting that probably doesn’t stand up to close scrutiny, Hartley is forced to team up with Nolan to clear his name and track down the real mastermind pulling the strings from behind the scenes, another notorious art thief known as “The Bishop.” No prizes for guessing who plays that devious shadow figure. She seems to be one step ahead of her rivals at every turn in a plot that keeps deftly springing double-crosses, surprise twists and long cons through to the very end, when all three of Cleopatra’s eggs are finally within reach.

While Thurber’s script never quite shakes the feeling of déjà vu, it does deliver a steady stream of amusing one-liners, most of them given to Reynolds’ self-serving jokester. “You a top or a bottom?” Nolan asks from the bunk bed when Hartley finds himself sharing a Russian prison cell with the thief. Johnson, who worked with the writer-director previously on Central Intelligence and Skyscraper , does his usual affable deadpan with relaxed charm. He rolls his eyes every time he’s the butt of another one of Nolan’s wisecracks, in a begrudging rapport that inevitably morphs into bromance.

The film’s keenest pleasures come when Gadot is onscreen, clearly having a ball shrugging off all traces of heroic nobility to play a ruthless badass who makes everything look easy. The Bishop (we never learn her real name) is a supreme tactician with useful connections all over the world, who handles herself formidably whether in high-kicking heels, with firearms, or by grabbing whatever ancient weaponry is at hand.

There’s a fun, flirtatious buildup between her character and Johnson’s as they tango during a ritzy party at the Valencia mansion of a billionaire arms dealer named Sotto Voce (Chris Diamantopoulos), who owns the second egg. He keeps it in a high-security vault full of priceless artifacts, with entry requiring lots of cool gadgetry and smart subterfuge. The fight that ensues once the intruders are inside that confined space, like all the physical clashes, is expertly choreographed.

The biggest set pieces, in addition to the high-speed Castel Sant’Angelo sequence, include a Russian prison break that turns out to be on an icy mountaintop, and a chase through the labyrinthine tunnels of an abandoned South American copper mine, with Hartley, Nolan and The Bishop in a deluxe 1931 Mercedes and Inspector Das and her team in pursuit in a jeep. Despite the ample gunfire and even some low-level torture scenes, there’s no real bloodshed or death, making this a generally family-friendly crime jaunt.

Thurber pads out the character development by giving all three protagonists their respective daddy issues. But that half-baked psychology doesn’t do much to disguise the fact that they’re all playing minor variations on their familiar screen personas, right down to an amusing Vin Diesel gag that’s possibly a sly nod to The Rock’s old Fast and Furious feud . There’s nothing groundbreaking in Red Notice , but depending on your affection for the stars, you could do worse. You might even get a kick out of the weirdly gratuitous British pop star cameo.

Full credits

Distributor: Netflix Production companies: Seven Bucks, Flynn Picture Co., Bad Version Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Ritu Arya, Chris Diamantopoulos, Ivan Mbakop Director-screenwriter: Rawson Marshall Thurber Producers: Beau Flynn, Dwayne Johnson, Rawson Marshall Thurber, Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia Executive producers: David B. Householter, Scott Sheldon Director of photography: Markus Förderer Production designer: Andy Nicholson Costume designer: Mary Vogt Music: Steve Jablonsky Editors: Mike Sale, Julian Clarke Visual effects supervisor: Richard Hoover Casting: Rachel Tenner

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‘Red Notice’ Review: Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot Compete in an Elaborate Easter Egg Hunt

Rawson Marshall Thurber delivers a dumb-fun race between crooks and cops to locate three artifacts once belonging to Cleopatra.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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Lifting its title from Interpol’s most-wanted list, “Dodgeball” director Rawson Marshall Thurber’s twisty treasure-hunt lark “ Red Notice ” blurs the lines between good guys and bad guys, and instead focuses on which of two notorious art thieves is better at breaking the law: sarcastic master forger Nolan Booth (a reliably whiny Ryan Reynolds ) or his upscale nemesis, known only as “the Bishop” (a more wine-and-diney Gal Gadot ).

Their goal is to collect three ornamental orbs — worth some $300 million, but only as a set — originally gifted from Anthony to Cleopatra, then scattered to the corners of the globe. While Booth and the Bishop ricochet around the world, engaging in what amounts to a high-stakes Easter egg hunt, criminal profiler John Hartley ( Dwayne Johnson ) tries to bring them in, making for a fun, fast-paced and frequently amusing divertissement. Released by Netflix first in theaters Nov. 5, then streaming for subscribers a week later, “Red Notice” works surprisingly well for what it is.

The script, which Thurber wrote himself, sets off blazing, as Booth steals Cleopatra’s first egg, narrowly escaping Hartley’s clutches, only to be apprehended when he arrives home in another hemisphere. Then the Bishop pops up, swipes the recovered prize, and lands Hartley in hot water, since the Interpol agent in charge, Inspector Das (Ritu Arya), now suspects the former FBI profiler of snagging it himself. Next thing Hartley knows, he’s sharing a cell with Booth in some remote Russian prison.

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We’re squarely in ’80s and ’90s action-movie territory here, and Thurber (who took improbability to new heights with the Rock-starring “Skyscraper”) certainly knows how to deliver wild and well-choreographed fights, chases and other stunt-driven set-pieces. Take that first heist, when Booth runs through the museum, only to find himself cornered in a room with a giant metal scaffold, which he proceeds to unhook one pin at a time, until the whole thing comes crashing down. In so doing, Reynolds nimbly outwits his pursuers the way Jackie Chan might have back in the day.

The influence of Indiana Jones on Thurber’s splashy travelogue is undeniable. Also channeled are retro favorites like James Cameron’s “True Lies” (including a sexy tango in which a big lug in a tuxedo — Johnson, not Schwarzenegger, in this case — makes himself irresponsibly conspicuous while undercover). Even more fun than the retro action is the old-fashioned dynamic between these three frenemies, who must cautiously agree to work together in order to locate all of Cleopatra’s eggs. There’s an unmistakable screwball-comedy quality to the repartee, as unlikely partners Booth and Hartley bicker, or anytime the Bishop shows up and upstages the other two.

It’s been widely reported that on the “Deadpool” movies, Reynolds improvises (or otherwise comes prepared with) many of his jokes, and the snarky thief he plays here feels like an extension of irreverent cut-ups he’s embodied before. Naturally, that attitude ruptures whatever reality audiences are supposed to buy into, but it’s worth it, since his zingers so often land (e.g., describing a target’s always-watching, always-listening security as “kinda like Alexa with guns,” or tussling with Johnson, then dropping a perfectly timed, “This is such a confusing erection”).

Reynolds is one of the few contemporary leading men who can consistently get away with winking at the audience throughout a performance. Nearly everyone else in Hollywood is expected to act, or at least pretend to disappear into character. Along the same lines, no one buys Johnson as a mild-mannered FBI profiler (when Das tells him he doesn’t look the part, he responds with an appropriately weary “I get that a lot”), but it’s satisfying to suspend disbelief and see what the Rock will do with the role. Meanwhile, Gadot, who was propelled to A-list status by “Wonder Woman” just a few years ago, gets to demonstrate that she has a sense of humor, too, as the Bishop teases and torments the others.

Her nickname hails from chess, though watching “Red Notice” feels more like a really good game of checkers, where the players keep things lively by jumping several of their opponent’s pieces in a single turn. These three are constantly outsmarting one another, such that Cleopatra’s eggs change hands often, while cuffs frequently bind the wrong wrists. Booth and Hartley are stuck together enough that they have no choice but to try getting along, as the now-framed fed breaks countless laws in order to clear his name, while a bromance slowly builds between them.

Thurber has a peculiar take on the morality of all this art theft. The first heist takes place in a museum, but the next two are presented as essentially victimless crimes. The second egg belongs to a notorious arms dealer named Sotto Voce (Chris Diamantopoulos), while the third is stashed away in a secret Nazi bunker packed with stolen artifacts, so they’re essentially fair game. “Look for a box that says ‘MacGuffin,’” quips Reynolds, citing Hitchcock’s term for the otherwise-unimportant plot device that motivates a thriller. Once reunited, the three eggs don’t conjure some all-powerful laser beam from the sky (thank goodness, as that’s an even more tired cliché), but instead serve as the ultimate wedding present to a profligate billionaire’s spoiled daughter — and there’s a second surprise waiting to upstage the gift once the time comes.

It’s all reasonably clever, so long as you don’t scrutinize it too closely. “Red Notice” could be Thurber’s spin on “National Treasure,” with just as much DNA from the RKO classic “Gunga Din.” The writer-director proves plenty adept at coming up with excuses for these characters to infiltrate and escape elaborately protected locations, and though the movie relies a bit too much on cumbersome exposition (the film’s first minutes are some of the clunkiest the genre has ever seen), it moves quickly enough that most audiences won’t stumble into — or even stop to question — the plot’s many holes. Like a skilled con artist, the movie steals your time, but leaves you feeling like you got the more advantageous end of the deal.

Reviewed at Wilshire Screening Room, Los Angeles, Nov. 1, 2021. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 117 MIN.

• Production: A Netflix release and presentation of a Seven Bucks, Flynn Picture Co., Bad Version production. Producers: Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia, Rawson Marshall Thurber, Beau Flynn, Dwayne Johnson. Executive producers: Scott Sheldon, David B. Householter.
• Crew: Director, writer: Rawson Marshall Thurber. Camera: Markus Förderer. Editors: Mike Sale, Julian Clarke. Music: Steve Jablonsky.
• With: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Rita Aryu, Chris Diamantopoulos.

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