THE STORY – In the near future, an advanced AI judge tells a captive detective that he’s on trial for the murder of his wife. If he fails to prove his innocence within 90 minutes, he’ll be executed on the spot.
THE CAST – Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Claes Bang, Temuera Morrison, Jacob Batalon, Frankie Adams, Miyavi, Stephen Root & Morena Baccarin
THE TEAM – Ángel Manuel Soto (Director) & Jonathan Tropper (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 122 Minutes
Ángel Manuel Soto’s third feature, “Charm City Kings,” a criminally overlooked drama about the lives of inner-city kids in Baltimore, felt like a significant turning point in his career as a filmmaker. Yet, instead of finding new ground, he’s been swallowed up by the system of big-budget studio filmmaking to the point where now none of what made his work stand out feels present. Soto’s latest feature, “The Wrecking Crew,” not to be confused with a reimagination of the Dean Martin film of the same name, is all the less of a romp, bound by the homogeneity of this type of streaming buddy cop outing, which audiences receive multiple times every year. Everything about “The Wrecking Crew” elicits a familiarity that, even when the film’s leads try to break through the material, ultimately shackles them to the triteness of this type of outing.
Although Steven Root’s frustrated cop dons our two action hero leads with the nickname “The Wrecking Crew”, the estranged half-brothers whose familial strife anchors the film are obviously far from the well-oiled killing machine that we see them become by the end of their journey. James (Dave Bautista), a Navy Seal and now diving instructor, is everything his brother is not. He’s a happily married family man, disciplined by the skills the United States military imbued in him, who somehow escaped the dysfunction caused by his father, a down-and-out private investigator. Jonny (Jason Momoa) is the complete opposite. He’s a self-centered detective rotting away in Oklahoma who can’t keep his priorities in check, especially his relationship with Valentina (the underutilized Morena Baccarin). So, what in the world could bring these two estranged siblings together, besides the obvious catalyst of plotting that is the death of their father?
Jonny and Jame’s father’s death is apparently a hit-and-run. Of course, in this type of film, that can’t possibly be true as the two brothers tear through Hawaii in search of the truth, even if it means fighting their way through the yakuza, wealthy elites threatening to ruin the lives of people in their homeland, and, of course, each other. Soto and screenwriter Jonathan Tropper clearly spell out the traditional character types that each lead inhabits, with Bautista playing the stern straight man to Momoa’s freewheeling rascal, who manages to crack one-liners and stir up trouble. Bautista, whose dramatic work is as varied as his abilities as a comedic performer, does all the heavy lifting here. Momoa defaults to the broish persona that a slew of his characters now display, echoing his very brand of tongue-wagging rocker that has made him so charming to millions of his fans. That energy, while serviceable for the action and the occasional joke, leaves much to be desired when “The Wrecking Crew” attempts to get down and dirty in the emotional weeds these brothers find themselves navigating through.
It doesn’t help that Soto’s inability to balance the comedic action with the overtly self-serious family drama at the film’s heart leaves audiences little to enjoy, even though there is little to begin with. “The Wrecking Crew” sees Momoa and Bautista’s characters duking it out, their conflict reaching a heightened point due to unresolved trauma, as Bautista fights a cartoonish yakuza boss with a scar across the bridge of his nose that makes him look like Sakuna from “Jusjitsu Kaisen.” Soto’s direction also doesn’t necessarily translate into memorable action set pieces, as they are all quite functional in their purpose and nothing more.
Still, despite some of the hand-to-hand combat satisfying the bare minimum of bare-knuckle spectacle, the action reaches an unnecessary level of inflation, as audiences sit through moments like a painful set piece involving an attack helicopter on a bridge that is not only far-fetched but also looks like it was straight out of a PlayStation 3 game.
Is “The Wrecking Crew” a watchable experience? Depending on who is asked, it’s due mainly to Bautista and Momoa’s chemistry, or more to the attempt to find it. How often can we retread the same ground with this type of “48 Hours” comedy duo before it becomes an annoyance? Maybe we’ve already passed that point because at this rate, it’s becoming more than an annoyance. “Blue Beetle” didn’t entirely work, but at least there’s a heart in it that tries to make the entire endeavor somewhat worth it. Here, “The Wrecking Crew” simply relegates itself to the walls of screensaver cinema, destined to be ambient background noise.
