There is too much emphasis on red colour in ‘Red Notice’. Movie poster with Bishop (Gal Gadot) wearing a red dress standing in between John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) and Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) may seem to suggest that the viewer has to take notice of the colour red.
Though the movie itself is not about the colour as much as a Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol for most wanted criminals around the world, that detail seems to have been relegated into the background as the film progresses. Gadot also wears a sequin Loewe red dress to the premiere of the movie. The overemphasis on red could have been avoided if the story had some meat in it.
In the hope of keeping the viewer entertained and thrilled at the same time, the film ends up doing neither. On the thriller action front we have some forgettable performances that seem to have been rehashed from old movies starring the top actors. One helicopter escape sequence in the movie was a bit tolerable.
Otherwise, a viewer gets a feeling that he has seen it all in some other action film earlier. In its endeavour to inject some humour, the film seems to have lost its plot altogether. Neither was it funny, not was it memorable. Maybe the pandemic has affected the ability of writers to think afresh on this front.
To lure Indian viewers, the producers have roped in inspector Urvashi Das (Ritu Arya), who has featured in two movies over the past two years. She has given a reasonably good performance.
There are needless twists and turns in the plot, making the whole film a needless experimentation with sensibility of the viewers. One can’t help but ask the question as to where is all this leading to.
In order to keep the film engaging for the audience, a fictional story of Cleopatra’s eggs is introduced.
The story revolves around the bid by art thieves to lay their hands on three bejewelled and priceless eggs believed to have been presented to the Egyptian queen by Mark Antony. The treasure hunt through various countries forms the crux of the story.
This movie can at best be a one-time watch given the predictable nature of the action sequences.