Red Notice Review: Another Ryan Reynolds Success

Can you really go wrong with a Ryan Reynolds movie? Red Notice was released today, a film I knew nothing about but knew everyone in it. Turns out, Red Notice follows FBI Agent John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) and the ‘world’s greatest con-man’ Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) as they try to track down the eggs of Cleopatra. Swiftly followed by the sly yet charming renowned art thief ‘The Bishop’ played by the wonderful Gal Gadot.

Like every movie with the Deadpool star, Red Notice held the same witty hilarity. Most of the gags landed well, Reynolds and Johnson had the same budding bromance movie you’d expect from a comedy heist film, their chemistry being almost as beautiful as Johnson and Hart had in Central Intelligence (though you can’t deny Johnson and Hart are an on-screen duo that cannot be matched). Although while Reynolds had the comedic value he always had, I couldn’t help but think Gadot stole the crown in this film.

An actress now known for her role as Wonder Woman, a character I’m indifferent to if I’m telling the truth, it was wonderful to watch her play the seductive villain that was always one step ahead of everyone else. She stole every scene she was in, and she looked stunning doing it.

It’s hard for heist films to be original, you tend to guess the ending half way through, but the plot twist in Red Notice was one neither me nor my extremely watchful father picked up on before the reveal. The writers did incredibly in trying to explain any plot hole that would make a watcher believe that Hartley’s intentions were nothing but pure, and showed just how ahead of the game The Bishop really was, I didn’t realise how far behind I, as an audience member, actually was.

It was nice to see the movie play into the history, while I’m not totally sure how much was accurate, having not taken a history lesson since I was 13, and having never read up on Cleopatra and her eggs (Egypt has always been my least favourite of the ancient mythologies). It added a different side to the story that made it feel almost like a fantasy adventure film, like Indiana Jones as Booth so appropriately whistles at the climax, which added a whole other level of thrill and excitement, something different.

There’s not a whole lot I can nit-pick at, not as a teenager who watches this film thinking ‘ooh fun’ every time someone threw a punch. The fight scenes were exciting, the characters were likable, nothing felt particularly stiff or too unrealistic. The heist overall was full of twists and turns and extravagant plans that went wrong in hilarious ways. Was the plot twist particularly necessary? No maybe not, it would have been fine without, but if you have an idea and it’s going to work. Why not? Also the end confused me a bit, but that’s probably because I know nothing about Egypt, their next heist is still a mystery to me. I just hope the three carry the same chemistry and likability into the sequel (assuming they actually make it, I hope so) that they pulled off so eloquently in this one.