Red Notice (2021)

Movie · 2021 · Action, Comedy, Crime · 1h 58m · PG-13 · English

Curator score: 0.6/10 (868.5K ratings)

Pro and cons.

Overview

An Interpol-issued Red Notice is a global alert to hunt and capture the world's most wanted. But when a daring heist brings together the FBI's top profiler and two rival criminals, there's no telling what will happen.

Ratings

Director

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Production

Flynn Picture Company, Seven Bucks Productions, Bad Version

Cast

Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Ritu Arya, Chris Diamantopoulos, Ivan Mbakop, Vincenzo Amato, Rafael Petardi, Seth Michaels, Sebastien Large, Guy Nardulli, Andrew Hunter, George Tsai, Rawson Marshall Thurber, Robert Mata, Anthony Belevtsov, Daniel Bernhardt, Yosef Podolski, Martin Harris, Alexander Perkins

Where to watch

Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads

Curator Review

Verdict

A glossy, high-budget action-comedy built around star personas and familiar heist beats, but the execution is widely seen as generic, overprocessed, and short on chemistry or wit. It can work as undemanding background viewing, yet it rarely rewards attention with real suspense, invention, or laughs.

Best for

  • Viewers who want a very easy, low-commitment streaming movie
  • Fans of broad star-driven banter over plot logic
  • People looking for a plane movie or second-screen watch

Skip if

  • You want sharp writing or genuinely funny comedy
  • You need memorable action set pieces or clever heist mechanics
  • You are tired of franchise-style blockbuster formula and brand-name casting

Overview

Red Notice is the kind of expensive, globally scaled streaming movie that looks like a hit on paper and feels like a committee note in practice. It has three major stars, exotic locations, and a heist premise, but the movie mostly trades on prepackaged charisma instead of building tension, surprise, or chemistry. The result is polished but strangely airless.

Worth noting

The action is serviceable and the pace is easy to follow, which is why it can pass as harmless background entertainment. But the jokes are repetitive, the twists are thin, and the film keeps explaining itself rather than letting the caper play out with style. It often feels less like a movie than a content product assembled from familiar parts.

Bottom line

If you enjoy watching famous people riff inside a glossy action template, there is some mild appeal here. For most viewers, though, the better takeaway is how little the film does with its cast and premise. It is watchable in the most literal sense, but not especially rewarding.

Top Letterboxd reviews

Bryan Espitia (2.5★) · 7569 likes

The Rock must have some sort of clause in his contract that says he has to end up in the jungle at some point in every movie

•lily• (1★) · 6935 likes

I didn’t think this could get any worse and then ed sheeran showed up and i lost the will to live

James (Schaffrillas) (1★) · 6891 likes

I hate Ryan Reynolds I hate Gal Gadot I hate the Rock I hate Netflix I hate movies I hate you

David Sims (1★) · 4244 likes

we are in a movie star crisis

Josh Lewis (1★) · 3730 likes

They spent $200m assembling the most cursed trio of famous people imaginable, who couldn't have less chemistry if they tried, and then let them all explain the heist plot at each other and improv their shticks for 2 hours in front of a camera and called it a movie. An "original" movie that is somehow still a generic white noise amalgamation of pretty much every current shitty action-comedy franchise blockbuster trend. Just in case you didn't get what it was going for Ryan Reynolds literally whistles the Indiana Jones theme.

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Topics

heist, action-comedy, crime caper, globetrotting, buddy rivalry, double-cross, blockbuster, lightweight, streaming original, formulaic

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