It’s a bad week to be a faceless goon in this '80s-style action comedy with a mega body count but no real peril. Dave Baustisa and Jason Momoa star as estranged half-brothers James and Johnny reunited after the death of their father in an apparent hit and run. Bautista is a well-respected Navy Seal and family man living in Hawaii while Momoa is a disgraced cop and all-round wastrel living in Oklahoma, returning to Honolulu under duress.
It’s not going to be an easy ride for the pair, who are being hunted by the Yakuza who are seeking a mysterious package, as well as Hawaiian gang the Syndicate, who have serious beef with Jonny and give him seven days to leave the island before they come for his head. Not that there’s much tension here – Bautista and Momoa are big lads (they look like “the Rock f***ed himself and gave birth to twins” according to one character) and in this they are virtually indestructible, swatting henchmen down like flies.
Director Angel Manuel Soto, who made superhero movie Blue Beetle, understands the formula here but somehow misses the spirit of what made those ‘80s romps great, adopting a “more is better” mentality. More deaths, more punch ups, more car crashes, more bullets, more explosions and more baddies, doesn’t actually equal more fun, rather it equates to a bloated run time and action fatigue.
At least it seems like the cast had fun. Bautista and Momoa have good chemistry and both get to do some outrageous scraps and stunts. The set pieces are certainly spectacular, including a bathroom brawl with Momoa vs the Yakuza and a corridor massacre which recalls a sequence from Oldboy and even finishes with Bautista staving someone’s head in with a hammer.
Vehicular stunts are equally relentless – you wouldn’t want to be a random motorist in Hawaii either, with unseen casualties from exploding cars racking up the death toll. The comedy comes from fraternal banter (“You got old!” “You got fat!” etc), and some choice swearing from Jacob Batalon (best known as Spider-Man’s best buddy Ned in the MCU) as the brothers’ unwitting sidekick.
Sadly more emotional scenes of the two bonding over past trauma don’t work at all, a shame since Bautista especially has proven himself an actor who can carry serious dramatic heft - he’s a big part of the beating heart of Blade Runner 2049. Though to be fair, The Wrecking Crew isn’t trying to be an awards-bothering tear-jerker.
View oEmbed on the source websiteThe plot, particularly the motives of the baddies, is convoluted as the boys uncover multiple conspiracies involving various different factions. Of the many antagonists who get at least some lines, the standouts are Claes Bang’s sleazeball millionaire and Miyavi as the stylish, coked-up Yakuza boss. Both get extended one-on-one scuffles that showcase different fighting styles, with Japanese/Korean musician and actor Miyavi’s lithe martial artist up against the ginormous former wrestler Bautista, a highlight.
All the ingredients are here for a rollicking Friday night movie, though the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Inspired by buddy movies like Lethal Weapon and 48 Hrs, The Wrecking Crew just doesn’t have the thrills or charm of those classics, and doesn’t even live up to more recent efforts like Shane Black’s excellent The Nice Guys or surprisingly enjoyable The Hitman’s Bodyguard (but not its sequel, which is rubbish).
But if you just want to see two massive blokes smashing the hell out of people, things and each other, with the odd decent one-liner, you could certainly do worse, and Amazon feels like the perfect home for this hunk of mindless man-candy.
The Wrecking Crew is released on Prime Video on Wednesday 28th January.
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