l watched this through a drowsy haze. As such, I might recant some of my thoughts.
I admire how they try to flip convention on it's head, and tell an old story in a new way. The double-double-double-double-crossings, and twists, start to feel implausible though. Ryan Reynolds seems to be doing his usual schtick; sort of playing Deadpool-lite, without the red suit. Dwayne Johnson is unusually unheroic, unlike the 'alpha male' roles we're used to seeing him play, where he's solving problems mostly with brute strength and bullets. Gal Gadot is curiously not believable, in her performance. She seems to be 'phoning it in'. Something is amiss. The villain, a man who enjoys throttling people to death, is a cardboard character; not nuanced or interesting at all.
'Red Notice' has moments of enjoyable humour and action though, but they're few and far between. Interestingly, a great deal of CGI--it's quite plain to see--is used in the action sequences in 'Red Notice', yet the action retains a fairly visceral quality. It retains a sense of danger. There are two impressive, swirling camera moves that are either CG or captured with a drone; a noteworthy joke that gently jibes at Amazon's Alexa; and a fun little nod to Indiana Jones.
There are hints of 'True Lies' (1994; R) and 'Get Smart' (2008; PG-13) in a dance scene between Johnson and Gadot, but especially 'True Lies'. What's missing is the tango piece 'Por Una Carbeza', to make it an overt reference to the 1994 film. There's also hint of a sequel, at the end, and if it's anything to go by, then the franchise is off to a not-so-good start, l feel.
However, I did learn that gold reflects radiation, and as such, it appears red on a heat scanner. If it appears blue, its not gold. 😊
