RED NOTICE
Famous faces, charisma, and chemistry are the only noticeable things in this attractive yet lunkheaded and disappointing action comedy flick. Dwayne Johnson plays John Hartley – an FBI agent who wants to clear his name, and Ryan Reynolds is the second most wanted art thief named Nolan Booth who wants to be first. They share a common enemy known as The Bishop (Gal Gadot) and she’s the most wanted art thief. Funnily enough, they all three have their eye on Cleopatra’s three golden eggs.
The thin script and dull action sequences shaped by writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber make for a monotonous globe-hopping heist adventure. This leaves the three A-listers doing their usual shtick, sticking to what they do best while throwing jokes back and forth. Nonetheless, it’s standard stuff that’s easily forgettable but will get an inevitable Netflix sequel anyway. However, every now and then, we’re gifted of glimpses of better Johnson movies like The Rundown and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. So it has that going for it.
THE HARDER THEY FALL
The Nat Love gang goes head-to-head against the Buck gang in a revenge Western knee deep in swagger, humor, punch, and style. It’s a blast from beginning to end with an all-star cast that shoots from the hip with killer aim. Jonathan Majors is a bonafide stud as Love, an outlaw who has unfinished business with Rufus Buck (a vicious Idris Elba) who’s fresh out of prison. Their rivalry doesn’t get any more personal and payback is what Love is living for. Majors and Elba aren’t your typical hero and villain either. They don’t roll like that, bringing complexity and emotion to men that have much more going on on the inside.
Co-starring Zazie Beetz, RJ Cyler, LaKeith Stanfield, Danielle Deadwyler, Delroy Lindo, and the fabulous Regina King as Trudy Smith – none of them sit back in the shadows as writer/director Jeymes Samuel makes each of their real life cowpokes standout. Admittedly, King is Queen in this town and has inarguably one of the best scenes in the entire film. Now this old dusty trail may be similar to ones that came before it, which happens in such a threadbare genre; yet, with guns a blazing, Samuel rides in with a rejuvenating attitude, primo performances, blood-splattering action, and cool music to show a kick ass Wild West that audiences deserve more of.
ARMY OF THIEVES
An unnecessary but lively prequel to Zack Snyder’s zombie epic where director and star Matthias Schweighöfer’s terrific talents are put on full display. Before we knew him as Dieter in Army of the Dead, he was Sebastian – a guy living a monotonous life with a safe cracking YouTube channel with zero views. Then after one view and a comment, his life changes forever when recruited by Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel) to join a team in cracking three master works created by the legendary locksmith Hans Warner. For those craving zombie mayhem, this ain’t that. It’s better. Performances are solid and the action and humor is energetic and entertaining. There’s a bit of sweet romance sprinkled in as well. Schweighöfer doesn’t do anything groundbreaking with this origin story/heist thriller. However, he sure does know how to make it fun and offbeat. His charismatic portrayal spreads like crazy and I recommend embracing it wholeheartedly.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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