Nazi-plundered artefacts, globe-hopping glitz and numerous nail-biting escapes from seemingly impossible situations: on paper, Red Notice could pass as an adequate Raiders of the Lost Ark-inspired romp. But the film, which stars a grumpy and unusually charmless Dwayne Johnson as an FBI profiler on the trail of Ryan Reynolds’s insufferably smug art thief and Gal Gadot’s slinky criminal mastermind, is so concerned with knitting together a mess of double-crosses and false endings that it loses the propulsive drive and excitement of the films it imitates.
Reportedly the most expensive Netflix original production to date, Red Notice would have benefited if some of its $200m budget had been spent on untangling the screenplay.
• In cinemas 5 November, on Netflix 12 November
