The Wrecking Crew, directed by Ángel Manuel Soto (Blue Beetle), thinks it’s really funny. Like, really, really funny. And to be sure, the script, written by Jonathan Tropper (Warrior), packs in a lot of quips, references, fat jokes, gay jokes, and hellaciously grotesque violence to elicit some reaction. But when there’s no laughter, only tired eye rolls and the fatigued slump of a writer who tries to benefit from not sitting through this level of junk as best she can, there’s a chance you’ve missed the mark.
Big dumb action is great. We are in desperate, dire need of more big, dumb action that transports us out of this godforsaken place. And when you see Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa as the stars in an action-packed Hawaii-set flick, there’s the intrinsic understanding that these two charismatic stars are going to generate enough of that charm to make any sloppy script worth grinding your teeth through. Unfortunately, even they’re misused so much that you have to wonder if, perhaps, they’ve fared better swapping roles.
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Bautista and Momoa play James and Johnny Hale, two half-brothers with a tumultuous history that has left them estranged. Johnny is a cop, while James is a Navy Seal, both disciplined enough to somewhat reasonably be able to fit into the battle spectacles gearing up for them. Following the death of their father, which is staged like a hit and run with clearly something more nefarious behind it, the two are forced to reunite and work together to get to the truth.
The Wrecking Crew can’t decide what kind of film it wants to be.
There’s plenty more too, especially when it comes to Johnny, as there are tidbits about his biological mother’s death and how he believed it too was a murder, only to be ostracized for his individual investigation. There’s also his put-upon girlfriend, Valentina (Morena Baccarin), who enters the plot with convenient-to-the-story precision. And then there’s the unresolved feelings of betrayal that Johnny feels regarding James, who he believes needed to step up for him as he was processing his mother’s death.
It’s a lot, especially for a film that is billing itself as an action-comedy. What’s worse is that it’s these more somber threads that actually work. Johnny calling Pika (Jacob Batalon) a “fat Jackie Chan” is lazy and a throwback to the mid-aughts, which we should never return to. But Johnny and James beating the snot out of each other to rid themselves of their manly pain? Great! Chef’s kiss.
It all boils down to a seeming misunderstanding of what the actors at the center do best. Jason Momoa has all the makings of an action star. He’s charismatic, shows off some fluid yet imposing physicality, and maintains the physique of a prototype leading man. Ever since he burst onto the scene with Game of Thrones, there’s been a concerted effort to find out just where he fits in the cinematic landscape.
Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa are engaging actors stuck with bad dialogue.
And here they’ve landed on a bumbling jock who stumbles his way into being a boozy cop. With jokes! His first fight scene with a group of Yakuza assailants who’ve come to kill him is well-choreographed and bursting with personality. Momoa embodies the gleeful, vengeful persona of Johnny as he literally whips himself around in a show of posturing bravado before tearing the attackers to bloody, gruesome pieces. Literally.
But anything beyond that is bogged down in tired dialogue and quips that seem crafted for curated content clips. There’s depth in the story, and there’s general intrigue at the start due to a colorful, immersive location for the characters to be defined by, as much as some of them, Johnny, is running from. And it’s made worse by the fact that half of the two-hander – Bautista – is given virtually nothing to do. Bautista, who, through his great work in films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049, Dune, and more, has cemented himself as a worthy character actor.
Sadly, he’s stiff here in a way that points a finger more at an emotionally hollow and unnecessarily glib script. No one faces consequences, even as Johnny decimates any threats that come to him. And, ultimately, it’s this mismatch of tones that really cements the fact that The Wrecking Crew has no intention of being a film that sticks around.
Director Ángel Manuel Soto can’t save a toneless and messy script.
Like so much of the streaming service landfill, the film overexplains itself, refusing to land on any intention or narrative tone. It’s an action flick with comedy, some drama, two stars, and an ensemble of recognizable-ish faces, with no actual stakes despite the incredulous body count.
There is something here, buried beneath the discordance of glut and shallow writing (in attempting to be everything, you’ll often walk away with a nothing picture). Due to this work on the charming Blue Beetle, we want to see Ángel Manuel Soto triumph. But more than anything, we want to see him get a picture that deserves his time, energy, and skill.
The Wrecking Crew is loud, and bloody, and hints at greater thematic weight than it’s able to actually muster. It has a solid director and two formidable stars when given characters suited to them. The script, however, and the foundation the story is built on, crumble early and never come back together.
The Wrecking Crew is available now on Prime Video.
The Wrecking Crew is loud, and bloody, and hints at greater thematic weight than it's able actually to muster.
