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Red Notice movie storyline. During the 1st century BC, Roman general Mark Antony gifts Egyptian queen Cleopatra three bejeweled eggs as a wedding gift to show his devotion. The eggs are lost in time until two are found by a farmer in 1907, but the last one remains lost.
In the present day, John Hartley, apparently an FBI agent, is assigned to assist Interpol agent Urvashi Das in investigating the potential theft of one of the eggs on display at the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome. The head of security dismisses the concerns, but Hartley reveals the egg is a forgery and the real egg has been stolen.
Before the room is sealed shut, international art thief Nolan Booth manages to escape with the egg. Arriving at his home in Bali with the egg, he finds Hartley, along with Das and an Interpol strike team there. They arrest Booth and take the egg into custody. Unbeknownst to everyone, his main competition, Sarah “The Bishop” Black, disguised as one of the strike team members, swaps the real egg with another forgery. The next day, Das confronts Hartley and has him incarcerated in a remote Russian prison in the same cell as Booth, believing he’s responsible for the theft.
Shortly after arrival, Black proposes that Booth work with her to find the third egg as he knows about its whereabouts. He declines her modest offer, so Hartley suggests they work together to defeat her; if Booth helps him imprison her, Booth will be the number one art thief in the world. The pair escapes from prison, heading to Valencia to steal the second egg, in possession of notorious arms dealer Sotto Voce who is having a masquerade ball.
They find Black, who is also there to steal it. The three arrive in Voce’s vault where Hartley and Booth fight her. Voce arrives with his security detail while Black reveals she is working with Voce. They torture Hartley until Booth reveals the location of the third egg. Black betrays Voce and leaves for Egypt where Booth claims it is. After leaving Valencia, Booth reveals to Hartley that the egg is actually in Argentina, a location only he knows as it was inscribed on his late father’s beloved watch which had once belonged to Adolf Hitler’s personal art curator Rudolph Zeich.
Red Notice is a 2021 American action comedy film written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber starring Dwayne Johnson alongside Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot and Ritu Arya. It marks the third collaboration between Thurber and Johnson, following Central Intelligence (2016) and Skyscraper (2018). In the film, an FBI agent reluctantly teams up with a renowned art robber in order to catch an even more notorious robber.
Film Review for Red Notice
Red Notice is the third collaboration between writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber and Dwayne Johnson after Central Intelligence and Skyscraper. Toplining a blockbuster cast, with Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds joining Johnson in this action comedy, the Netflix release gets its title from the Interpol term referring to locating and arresting wanted persons.
Red Notice isn’t a serious heist film. The plot is feeble, but the A-list star power and humour are loaded enough to make the madness enjoyable. FBI profiler John Hartley (Johnson), on a tip-off from The Bishop (Gal Gadot), is in Rome, trying to foil the theft of an Egyptian egg, one of three priceless spherical jewels dating back to and belonging to Cleopatra. John is close on the trail of art thief Nolan Booth (Reynolds), second in skill and reputation to the sharp and swift The Bishop, but always first with the glib one-liners.
Both are competing to be first to find the elusive third egg and complete the trio, which would make it a prize sale in the jewel thief market. The race for the treasure takes them from Italy to Bali to Russia. When Hartley and Booth team up, the wisecracks fly fast and furious. Will they outwit The Bishop or will Interpol inspector Das (Ritu Arya) catch them before they get their hands on all three eggs? That’s the bare bones of the story. There’s a big twist towards the end, leaving the floor wide open for a sequel.
The backstory gives a fedora-shaped hat-tip to the Indiana Jones movies, with some very obvious tributes such as the treasure hunt, Nolan’s costume, and Nolan’s whistling of the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme tune.
There is something for the fanbase of each of the leads. The Deadpool devotee can expect trademark Reynolds humour, Wonder Woman fans can bank on Gadot glamorously delivering the goods. Johnson’s followers can be sure of self-deprecating jibes as well as chunks of action. The Johnson-Reynolds combine is a quintessential buddy comedy tie-up.
That the cast is having a good time is evident. And so they should, as this is the film’s greatest – and maybe only – appeal. As mindless entertainment built on silly jokes, a thin plot, visual effects and window dressing, Red Notice is a 117-minute distraction, easily forgotten in half that time.
Red Notice (2021)
Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Ritu Arya, Joseph A. Garcia, Chris Diamantopoulos, Anthony Belevtsov, Andzelika Bobrova, Martin Harris, Yosef Podolski, Ivette Alvarez, Shane Berengue
Screenplay by: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Production Design by: Andy Nicholson
Cinematography by: Markus Förderer
Film Editing by: Julian Clarke, Michael L. Sale
Costume Design by: Mary E. Vogt
Set Decoration by: Danielle Berman, Larry Dias
Art Direction by: Rachel Block, Rory Bruen
Music by: Steve Jablonsky
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence and action, some sexual references, and strong language.
Distributed by: Netflix
Release Date: November 5, 2021
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