Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot, and was directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, director of Central Intelligence and Skyscraper.
Red Notice follows FBI agent, Hartley (Johnson), who teams up with art thief, Booth (Reynolds), to catch The Bishop (Gadot). The film had a budget of $200 million, a tentpole for Netflix, which was quickly covered with the best debut for an original in the site's history. The success has already jump-started talks for a sequel between Thurber and Netflix, with Thurber wanting to shoot two sequels back to back.
Now, Halle Berry's directorial debut, Bruised, and A Boy Called Christmas in anticipation of the holiday season. At the bottom of the page, they feature the top ten streaming original films of all time on the site, with Red Notice, Bird Box, Extraction, The Irishman, and The Kissing Booth 2 making up the top five.
Red Notice has received poor reviews from critics, despite being popular with audiences, currently sitting at 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. The reason for the film's success is largely attributed to its cast, with the three leads delivering performances akin to the ones that made them so popular, especially for superhero fans, with Reynolds and Gadot being well known for their performances as Deadpool and Wonder Woman, respectively. The film's fast pace and humor also allows for easier enjoyment, letting the predictable plot twists not become a big issue for more casual viewers.
Red Notice is another example of something not needing to be high in quality to be popular, with Bird Box, Extraction, and The Kissing Booth 2 all faring poorly with critics. This speaks to a larger dissonance between critics and audiences, where actor chemistry and a light tone are all that's needed to be widely successful. Despite not being well-regarded by critics, Red Notice is a fun, inoffensive heist movie that allows audiences to watch actors do what they do best, carried with light confidence that is perfect for pure escapism.
Source: Netflix
