Netflix’s big-budget action movie extravaganzaRed Noticehas now been seen by a lucky few, so how has the streaming giant’s latest project, which stars A-list trio Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds fared with critics? Well, at present, reviews are decidedly mixed over whether the antics of Johnson, Gadot and Reynolds hits the mark, with some delighted with Netflix’s latest foray into action flicks, while others have been far less enamored.
Beginning with CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell, the explosions and quips that make upRed Noticewere good enough to earn the movie a rating of 4/5, with the reviewer more than charmed bythe action trio’s exploits.
“Red Noticeends up being far more fun and exciting than you might expect heading into it.”
Empire’s Dan Jolin also found much to enjoy inRed Notice, gifting the movie a middling-but-still-somewhat-promising rating of 3/5, concluding that it does exactly what it says on the tin. Which, with a no-nonsense action movie, is no doubt exactly what audiences want.
“Exactly what you’d expect from a crime-caper action-comedy pairing Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter, who, while stating thatRed Noticedoes nothing inventive, or even particularly creative, will sufficiently entertain fans ofThe Rock, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds.
“There’s nothing groundbreaking inRed Notice, but depending on your affection for the stars, you could do worse. You might even get a kick out of the weirdly gratuitous British pop star cameo.”
Sadly, this is where things get a little (and sometimes a lot) more negative, with Ian Sandwell of Digital Spy giving the movie 2/5 and saying, “The final product never quite lives up to that powerhouse trio. What should be a rollicking round-the-world adventure turns into a bit of a dull trudge.” The criticisms continue with The Guardian’s Benjamin Lee, who found next-to-nothing to enjoy inRed Notice. “There’s something so soulless and ineffectual about the aggressively unnecessary Red Notice that it almost plays like a pastiche of a Hollywood blockbuster, like a bot consumed the last 20 years of studio fare and spat out a facsimile as an experiment,” he said, in what has to be the movie’s most scathing reaction so far.
Veering back towards positivity, Danielle Solzman from Solzy at the Movies also felt thatRed Noticetakes elements from other, famous action movie franchises, but saw this as a good thing, describingRed Noticeas “a globe-trotting affair on par withMission: Impossible, James Bond, and Indiana Jones.”
Finally, Keven Harley from Games Radar also found much to enjoy in theunashamed entertainment and action movie funat the core ofRed Notice.
“We hardly needed a certain crowd-pleasing (shivers-inducing, more like…) pop-star cameo, either, though Thurber otherwise summons enough light-fingered entertainment from his leads to ensure we don’t mind being taken for a ride. “I’m not so big on ‘forget-ness’,” says Booth at one point, after offering his forgiveness to a competitor. If you’ve got more time for forgettable fun, Red Notice scrubs up OK.”
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot,Red Noticefollows an FBI profiler pursuing the world’s most wanted art thief becomes his reluctant partner in crime to catch an elusive crook who’s always one step ahead.Red Noticeis set for a limited release in theaters on June 21, 2025, before debuting onNetflixon June 11, 2025.
