Rawson Marshall Thurber

  • Red Notice (2021)

    Red Notice (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, December 2021) Clearly, Netflix now has the money to buy not only a constellation of low-end independent movies, but the kind of audience-friendly high-budget releases that used to be the bastion of Hollywood studios. Sporting multiple shooting locations around the world, a very audience-friendly quippy script, copious special effects and (more importantly) three authentic stars with clear screen personas, Red Notice couldn’t be better titled — a notice to Hollywood that the big red N is out to eat their lunch. Acquired after a bidding war, Red Notice is also a further reminder that the universe of serious buyers for expensive film projects now includes not only the major studios, but a bevy of tech giants primarily looking for a stream of content rather than any affinity for cinema, let alone artistic ambitions. As a project, Red Notice is a good sell — the kind of standalone action/adventure skirting the edges of comedy, driven by characters that lean into the screen persona of likable stars. Dwayne Johnson plays a taciturn muscleman, Ryan Reynolds quips his way through the film and Gal Gadot looks gorgeous — you can’t really ask for much more in terms of audience appeal. Put these three into a broadly accessible plot about con artists, thieves, precious relics and action sequences and Red Notice looks a lot like the platonic ideal of a tentpole summer release, before shared universes and superhero films took over everything. Despite the formula, it’s easy to like — competently written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, a three-time Johnson collaborator whose projects keep getting better and better, Red Notice hits just the right spot for Netflix, for audiences and for its stars as well. Compared to previous Thurber/Johnson collaboration Skyscraper, it’s considerably funnier, smoother, and more compelling. Some great cinematography helps accelerate the pacing, and the special effects help in creating expansive action sequences. The plot certainly doesn’t hold up to scrutiny with its cumulative betrayals, but this is about as close as we’ve gotten to a National Treasure 3, so there’s that to consider. Let’s not bet against sequels — aren’t they the logical next move from Netflix?

  • Skyscraper (2018)

    Skyscraper (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, March 2019) If you want a look at the state of the blockbuster film at the end of the 2010s, it would be hard to do better than Skyscraper. Featuring Dwayne Johnson as a security expert working to protect a massive high-rise building in Hong Kong, it works on familiar elements on and off the screen. When a character in the film proudly claims, “Chinese Money, American Know-how!,” they could just as well be talking about today’s Hollywood, with Asian money financing Hollywood films doing their best to appease Chinese censors just to have a chance at playing to a billion Chinese moviegoers. It wouldn’t simply do for our hero to battle terrorists in a building: Skyscraper adds wild science fictional threats and sticks the hero’s family in the building to heighten the stakes. It’s also cribbing from the most popular screenwriting books of the moment in other ways: The first fifteen minutes (once past the prologue) are a non-stop carnival of plot devices exposition: pay attention, because there will be a test later on. Johnson and writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber have a nice working relationship after working together on Central intelligence, and the film is clearly designed to play to his strengths. It’s also fun to see Neve Campbell back in the blockbuster field after nearly a decade of lower-profile pursuits and a parental break. Filled to the brim with top-notch special effects, Skyscraper feels obligated to throw in futuristic plot devices and IT nonsense, including a hall-of-mirrors sequence that takes Orson Welles’s original concept one step further for better or for worse. While the plot elements are familiar, Skyscraper’s execution is competent enough in its genre to be an average blockbuster action film. However, it’s pretty much all soulless … which practically guarantees that it will disappear without a trace once the marketing money runs out.

  • Central Intelligence (2016)

    Central Intelligence (2016)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Video on Demand, October 2016) As much as I like Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson as comic performers, there’s something off with Central Intelligence that makes the film feel smaller than their combination would suggest. To its credit, the film does veer off in less simplistic territory than you could expect from the first few minutes: there’s a layer of uncertainty to Johnson’s character that makes the story a bit more self-challenging than expected, even though the ultimate outcome of the various twists is never in doubt. Unfortunately, it’s that same uncertainly that so often prevents the film from snapping fully in focus. Johnson’s character is pushed to such extremes that it’s tough to suspend disbelief that he would exist even in the film’s reality. It doesn’t help that Central Intelligence, in much of the same way as other contemporary action/comedy hybrids, veers back and forth between persona-based improvisation and strictly scripted madcap action scenes. The uneven pacing is an issue, especially when the result runs close to two hours. At least the two lead actors deliver more or less what’s expected of them. Johnson is ready to try anything for a laugh and his charisma helps the film hide some of its more inconsistent problems, but Hart seems a bit held back by the place taken by his co-star and the demands of the production—he’s usually better in more free-flowing films. As for the rest, director Rawson Marshall Thurber keeps things going during the action scenes, perhaps further highlighting the two-speed inconsistency of the film. Still, if you’re in the mood to see Johnson and Hart goof on their respective personas, Central Intelligence will do … although it’s not hard to be disappointed by how much better the film should have been.