Plot: Two half-brothers, a loose cannon cop, and a disciplined Navy SEAL must work together to unravel a conspiracy behind their father’s murder in Hawaii.
Review: January tends to be the dumping ground for studio fare that is too weak for prime spots on the calendar and too expensive to relegate to streaming. Every now and then, we get a decent flick during the coldest part of the year, but they tend to be passable rather than actually good. The long-awaited pairing of Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista should have all but guaranteed that The Wrecking Crew would get a theatrical release, but Prime Video is just as good of an option that won’t make you bundle up to check out this buddy action-comedy. The Wrecking Crew is a fun and violent action movie with a sense of humor we have not enjoyed since the heydey of Lethal Weapon or Bad Boys. With a solid villain and the instant chemistry of Bautista and Momoa, The Wrecking Crew is a welcome blast of big screen fun available right at home.
Rather than go the route of partnering two cops in the line of duty, The Wrecking Crew introduces us to estranged half-brothers James Hale (Dave Bautista), a Navy SEAL living in Hawaii, and Jonny Hale (Jason Momoa), a cop working on a reservation in Oklahoma. Their father, Walter (Brian Keaulana), is a private investigator who is killed in a hit and run that Jonny learns is a ruse when a bunch of Yakuza show up at his home. Returning to Hawaii for Walter’s funeral and to investigate his murder, Jonny and James immediately fall back into their dysfunctional dynamic despite attempts to intervene by their cousin Haunani (Frankie Adams) and James’ wife, Lani (Maia Kealoha). With some help from family friend and the Governor of Hawaii (Temuera Morrison), James and Jonny investigate what happened separately and together when they can get out of each other’s way long enough. When working alone, both Bautista and Momoa are capable of carrying the narrative, but the movie becomes a blast when they are together including scenes with Detective Rennert (Stephen Root) doing his best exasperated superior impression and Walter’s assistent, Pika (Jacob Batalon) who becomes a solid sidekick.
Since a movie like this requires a solid villain, The Wrecking Crew employs Dracula actor Claes Bang as Marcus Robichaux. Bang already has the look of a swarthy Bond villain and brings the needed gravitas to playing Robichaux who is a good physical threat opposite Momoa and Bautista. Every good villain needs a primary henchman with Miyavi filling the role as coked up Yakuza swordsman Nakamura. Most of The Wrecking Crew has the leads beating down nameless thugs in gunfights, fistfights, and car chases, but the eventual showdown with Robichaux and Nakamura is well worth the build up. The trailers show off some of the bigger setpieces including a highway chase involving helicopters that boasts some underwhelming CGI, but in the context of the movie it works out pretty well. The action throughout is solid with The Wrecking Crew pulling no punches in the level of violence. Skulls get smashed and limbs are ripped off multiple times and some of the bad guys are dispatched gruesomely. It has been a while since a buddy action movie has gone back to the basics of movies from the 80s and 90s with The Wrecking Crew avoiding the bordering on overused John Wick-style of action cinema despite David Leitch originally being attached to direct.
What works best for me in this movie is that both Momoa and Bautista work to their strengths rather than trying to play against type. While the actors shared the screen in the AppleTV series See and both starred in Dune despite not sharing any scenes, this movie has been a long time coming as the real-life friends who wanted a project they could appear in together. Both have funny moments to their credit, but Momoa is the far funnier loose cannon of the pair with Bautista primarily the by-the-book straight man. Neither Jonny nor James is afraid of killing the bad guys without a second thought, especially in the name of protecting their family. Once Morean Baccarin joins the mix as Jonny’s girlfriend Valentina, the movie picks up the pace. Clocking in at just about two hours, The Wrecking Crew hits all of the hallmarks of the buddy cop formula and is pretty true to the genre with a nice Hawaiian twist. We don’t often see movies like this set in Hawaii and the change of locale adds some freshness to the experience.
The concept for The Wrecking Crew came from Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa who honed the idea with screenwriter Jonathan Tropper who worked with both actors when he was showrunner on See. Tropper has experience with action hacing written for Cinemax series Banshee and Warrior as well as the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter. Tropper knows the conceits of the genre and sticks to the overall formula while ensuring the characters are likeable and the action and comedy fun. Director Angel Manuel Soto, who helmed the great indie Charm City Kings and cut his big budget teeth on Blue Beetle, does a great job of making The Wrecking Crew feel like a big screen blockbuster and not a streaming release. The production values and stuntwork are impressive and had me wondering how this did not end up in multiplexes where it would have likely made a solid amount of money. There is an impressive soundtrack of recogizable songs and a tone that feels close to David Leitch’s The Fall Guy that kept me entertained from beginning to end.
With an energy and sense of fun that has been missing from the action genre for quite some time, The Wrecking Crew lives up to its title with a non-stop blast of violent action that doesn’t let up from beginning to end. Sticking close to the tropes of the genre, the film gets a boost from the pairing of Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa who have proven that they make a dynamic duo. I would love to see these two reteam after having a good time watching this movie. My biggest regret is not getting the chance to see this in a theater where I am positive the crowd reaction would have been very strong. The Wrecking Crew gives Hawaii the Hollywood blockbuster treatment while including an indigenous cast. It may not be the most original concept, but it works.
The Wrecking Crew premieresJanuary 28th on Prime Video.
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Source:
JoBlo.com
