The Wrecking Crew streams globally beginning Wednesday, January 28, on Prime Video.
Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa carry the weight of a buddy cop blow-'em-up on their formidable shoulders in director Ángel Manuel Soto's The Wrecking Crew - a slightly higher-grade action film that'll tease you with fresh concepts and funny banter while simultaneously deflating you with by-the-numbers tropes and twists. The Wrecking Crew leverages the combined beef of its two superhero leads for an '80s/'90s-style throwback adventure, but it's only half successful, and every joke that actually lands shines a sad spotlight on all the other lines that are flat and uninspired. It's a step forward, step backwards situation.
Momoa beams brightest here as the hot mess/bull-in-a-china-shop half-brother of disciplined, rigid Bautista, who feels a tad underserved with the straight-man role. Bautista's James is the Roger Murtaugh-type family man, if Roger was a decorated, dry Navy SEAL. Which makes sense as a counterpoint for Lobo-in-real-life Momoa, but it also makes the film feel unbalanced as Momoa's Johnny is given so much fun flare, numerous clever fight scenes, and the movie's best one-liners. It's no wonder that Vin Diesel, reportedly, allegedly, was rumored to resent Momoa for out-classing him in Fast X. The former Aquaman star oozes that rogue, rascally Riggs charisma that these types of movies need.
Bautista is no slouch, but he's very much the quiet(er) storm here. There are moments when the two find their squabbling sibling rhythm and the story comes alive, but again there are many recycled elements dragging the whole operation down - like the entire reveal of the villains and their nefarious scheme, which feels tacked on to the point of being incidental. And perhaps that's the point: keeping intact the rote action-movie building blocks. Adhering to the familiar mold even when more interesting elements loom large.
I'm giving The Wrecking Crew the benefit of the doubt, but truthfully writer Jonathan Tropper has given us much better pulp (Banshee, Warrior, Your Friends & Neighbors). That being said, there is a Yakuza fight scene near the beginning that feels like a rad reminder to rewatch Banshee. It's actually such a lively brawl that it makes you hopeful that the rest of the movie will match it, but only parts of it do.
Writer/director Shane Black helped pioneer the action-comedy mismatched-duo genre decades ago, but even he was able to grow the genre from his own foundations with the likes of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys. The Wrecking Crew doesn't need to be The Nice Guys, or even a meta-examination of the genre, but it does need a little more confidence to flex (which sounds silly, given the leads). Arguably though, the most important element here is the heroes and their specific dynamic and that, smartly, is The Wrecking Crew's strength.
The most important element here is the heroes and their specific dynamic and that, smartly, is The Wrecking Crew's strength.“
Momoa's Johnny, an Oklahoma cop who just lost his job and gal (the invaluable Morena Baccarin) because he's an amusing garbage dump of a dude, returns to his Hawaiian home to attend the funeral of his deadbeat P.I. dad - who, unlike his cranky older bro James (Bautista), he knows was murdered. Johnny's homecoming is physically violent and emotionally tumultuous as he and James deal with their dad's last case, the dirt he dug up, and their own deeply harbored resentments toward each other.
Eventually, the mystery switches gears into a massive murderfest with tons of explosions and an uncomfortable amount of collateral damage. Once the dirty deeds are figured out and the brotherly bothers are sorted, The Wrecking Crew plays out in fairly predictable ways. You'll know who the traitor is. You'll have heard the villain's dialogue before in various other films. And you'll wonder why Johnny and James aren't immediately incarcerated after every incident. But also... you know, Momoa rips a guy's arm off. The Wrecking Crew contains multitudes.
This is a moderate recommendation, for those who may still be hunkered down at home this week, safe from the snow, and want a partially brainless blast to make things loud in your living room. It's what Siskel and Ebert would categorize as slight thumbs up. The Wrecking Crew has strong leads (advantage to Momoa) and fun support - like Baccarin, Jacob Batalon, and Frankie Adams - while also delivering on hyperviolence and spectacle. It's a shame that it's too by-the-book most of the time, with only flashes of inventiveness here and there.
