Regardless of their rise to A-list stardom has seen them star in similar-genre efforts, significantly the superhero worlds of the Marvel Cinematic and DC Prolonged Universes, it is one thing of a shock that Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista went so lengthy with out working collectively. Their grizzled-yet-humorous personas mixed with their shared want to experiment with non-action initiatives on the likes of Apple TV’s Chief of Battle and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies made the concept of a collaboration between all of them the extra engaging.
The Wrecking Crew has lastly put Momoa and Bautista on display collectively and, fortunately, it largely lives as much as the potential of the performing duo. It is actually not probably the most unique, and its script does include quite a lot of issues, however with out its blockbuster duo main the cost, it might’ve been on the decrease finish of probabilities to face out from the gang as an entertaining experience.
The Wrecking Crew Solely Considerably Overcomes Its Familiarity & Routine Script
Produced by the pair, The Wrecking Crew sees Momoa and Bautista star as Jonny and James Hale, half-brothers who’ve by no means gotten alongside since their non-public detective father left the latter’s mom for the previous’s. Jonny now works as a rule-bending police detective on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma, whereas James is a Navy SEAL residing on their residence island of Hawaii and coaching new members of the army, whereas additionally having a household of two children and a loving spouse.
The pair instantly discover themselves pressured to return again collectively when their father is killed in an obvious hit-and-run, which Jonny instantly turns into suspicious of after yakuza members assault him in his residence. Reluctantly working collectively to find out the reality behind his loss of life, the siblings shortly discover themselves wrapped up in a bigger conspiracy that places them within the crosshairs of extra than simply the Japanese crime group.
So far as buddy cop tales go, The Wrecking Crew actually would not attempt to be that completely different from its style predecessors. The loss of life of a member of the family and their very completely different existence — Jonny being reckless whereas James is a way more organized particular person — creates the atypical odd couple dynamic of straight man vs. humorous man audiences come to count on.
In some methods, the familiarity is a consolation for getting immersed within the Hale brothers’ investigation into their father’s loss of life. Banshee and Warrior creator Jonathan Tropper properly balances the pair squabbling with each other and a few efficient enjoying off of one another to maintain these round them guessing. Among the best examples is a beat between the brothers and Claes Bang’s villainous Marcus Robichaux, by which Momoa and Bautista really feel like they’re testing one another’s endurance as a lot because the antagonist’s.
However even whereas they’re clearly having enjoyable with each other, the script by no means actually finds a solution to go deeper with the Hale brothers. Even because the movie begins to discover the foundation of their animosity with one another, The Wrecking Crew too usually solely skims the floor of the emotional baggage the pair have, or rushes them with a number of strains of dialogue. Contemplating the film clocks in at simply shy of two hours lengthy, and has varied bits poking enjoyable at stated baggage, it might have been good to see Tropper truly attempt to give each characters some additional explorations.
This lack of depth additionally speaks to the truth that The Wrecking Crew can by no means fairly resolve how far to go together with its central thriller and its impression past the Hale brothers. Robichaux has moments of showing to nearly be a prisoner in and of himself with the prison organizations he is affiliated with, whereas his large plan appears primed to the touch on the specter of gentrification on smaller Hawaiian communities, even on the community-driven island.
And but, Tropper finally ends up attempting to juggle an excessive amount of with The Wrecking Crew‘s concepts by conserving it firmly planted in its buddy cop system and tone. This might have been simpler to miss had the movie been funnier, as there are a handful of true laughs available with the proceedings, however the remainder of the comedy registers little greater than a chuckle at one of the best. The largest space the place the comedy fails to land is simply how previous the jokes really feel, as Jonny’s frequent fats jokes directed at Jacob Batalon’s Pika and mixing up Morena Baccarin’s Valentina being Mexican as an alternative of Brazilian being the mistaken aspect of throwback humor.
The place the humor does generally underwhelm, The Wrecking Crew is at the least additionally supported by Ángel Manuel Soto’s energetic route. The Blue Beetle director continues to show himself a unbelievable filmmaker for the motion style, with each combat scene fantastically mixing the sensibilities of the completely choreographed John Wick movies with that of the messier, comedy-driven Jackie Chan classics. Additionally they properly make the most of the film’s R-rating to make each motion scene really feel appropriately brutal.
One Wrecking Crew motion scene that in the end left this reviewer divided is a hallway combat between James and a wide range of yakuza thugs within the movie’s climax. Soto was clearly straight impressed by Oldboy‘s iconic hallway scene in capturing every part from an outdoor perspective and letting the vast majority of the motion play out from this third-person view.
In some methods, it is not totally a nasty factor that Soto homaged the Park Chan-wook style traditional with this remaining act combat scene, as he executes it very effectively, and Bautista and the opposite stunt performers promote the sequence magnificently. However all the identical, it might be good if motion administrators did not go to the identical effectively each single time they need to depict a hallway-set combat sequence, because the likes of sure John Wick installments and Punisher’s iconic jail scene in Daredevil season 2 present methods to do extra than simply ape director Park’s.
However, all the identical, the mix of Soto’s slick route and good chemistry between Bautista and Momoa in the end maintain The Wrecking Crew largely afloat. It is nice to see the Guardians of the Galaxy alum play a extra reserved character, but nonetheless discover the humor in such a component, whereas Bautista reducing free is all the time a blast. Plus, whereas the Prime Video sequel largely wraps issues up for the Hale brothers, there’s simply sufficient wiggle room for a possible follow-up to be taught from a number of the first film’s missteps and enhance upon the strong basis.
The Wrecking Crew begins streaming on Prime Video on January 28.
- Launch Date
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January 28, 2026
- Director
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Ángel Manuel Soto
- Writers
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Jonathan Tropper
- Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista are a unbelievable duo with loads of chemistry.
- Ángel Manuel Soto infuses an exquisite sense of vitality into his route.
- The motion is well-crafted and largely entertaining.
- The script would not go deep sufficient with its characters or cultural representations.
- The reliance on fats jokes and profanity feels oddly old school in all of the mistaken methods.