Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, The Wrecking Crew follows estranged half-brothers Jonny (Jason Momoa) and James (Dave Bautista) who reunite after their father’s mysterious death. As they search for the truth, buried secrets reveal a conspiracy threatening to tear their family apart.
This film had all the looks and feels of a typical buddy cop action comedy film when you first look at it from its trailer, and normally it’s not the kind of film I’d go out of my way to watch, but upon seeing the talent involved both in front and behind the camera I couldn’t help but be a little curious about it. We have Ángel Manuel Soto at the helm, who directed Blue Beetle, which is a film I still love dearly, and we have the duo of Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, two of my favorites, leading the charge, so this had potential to be a fun watch even if it isn’t Oscar worthy. After getting the time to sit down and watch this one I can confirm this film is indeed a fun watch most of the time.
The Wrecking Crew is a bare-knuckle 90s-inspired action film that knows exactly what it is and stays true to itself by delivering solid entertainment through its likable leads and incredibly well-crafted action from start to end. While the quality of this film pales in comparison to Ángel Manuel Soto’s previous work with Blue Beetle, it’s still a fine watch that doesn’t have much to annoy me compared to other action films that are far worse in quality and execution.
Most of the cast of this film is great performance-wise, even if their characters aren’t exactly the most layered or nuanced, and leading the charge is the volatile yet entertaining duo of Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista as Jonny Hale and James Hale respectively. They play the typical funny guy and straight man duo you would expect from a film like this, but they do a great job with their respective roles, giving the brothers a fun dynamic that delivers good laughs and badass action together. The two are having a blast as this estranged duo but it’s clear that Jason Momoa is the highlight for his unhinged dialogue and being an ultimate underdog due to how much he gets beat up during this film just from wanting to do the right thing.
Also stealing the spotlight is Jacob Batalan as Pika who is absolutely hilarious, delivering a lot of great laughs of his own when present and was definitely very unfiltered in this performance, which must have been fun for him. Morena Baccarin plays a small supporting role as Jonny’s girlfriend Valentina, and while she’s pretty fun in the film she’s unfortunately very underused despite clearly being able to share good chemistry with Jason Momoa.
Stephen Root is also a fun addition as Detective Sergeant Karl Rennert, and as one would expect he plays the police chief stereotype of this film but does a good job of it.
Other cast members are pretty good too but definitely the weak link of the cast was the villain Marcus Robichaux, played by Claes Bang. Claes Bang is a seriously great actor who delivered a phenomenal performance as the villain in The Northman by Robert Eggers but here he’s unfortunately given a plain-as-hell villain that is hardly memorable or threatening in the slightest, and delivers a very bland performance as a result. The henchmen that work for him had more personality than he does, including Miyavi as Nakamura, a coked-up Yakuza leader who provides very entertaining moments and would have served better as the main villain.
From a narrative standpoint, this film is pretty basic in its plot, with nothing all that surprising or unpredictable about it, but it does manage to deliver solid entertainment throughout and doesn’t take itself too seriously at times. The leads are compelling enough to make the story feel fun and engaging for anyone watching so while it may be mindless it’s not boring whatsoever.
Highly brutal yet extremely well-crafted action definitely drives the story and delivers most of the fun all thanks to amazing practical effects and stunt work that Ángel Manuel Soto directs to perfection. All the action sequences in this film are fantastic except for one that came completely out of nowhere and features some of the worst CGI I’ve seen in quite some time. For a film that stays mostly grounded with occasional over-the-top moments this CGI chase sequence felt completely separate from the rest of the film, not only due to its horrid looks but also with how it feels. It felt like a segment you’d find in a Fast and Furious film that just didn’t belong in this film, and gets barely addressed afterwards in the story. This felt like a forced addition that just didn’t need to be there and was executed poorly.
Aside from that scene, the film looks visually appealing with the Hawaiian setting, and there is some incredible cinematography featured in this film, from stellar one-takes to stylish shots that give a lot more energy to the brutal action, making it look glorious on screen. On top of all that we get a decent score from composer Bobby Krlic and a mostly solid selection of needle drop songs that kick off some great sequences.
There’s not a whole lot to talk about this film with how simple and straightforward it is as an action film, but overall I still had a fun time watching it. Apart from a bland villain and the one terrible CGI action sequence there wasn’t really much that bothered me about this film. It’s fine and fun so it’s not harmful to give a go if you want an entertaining flick to relieve you of boredom. I’m going to give The Wrecking Crew a B- = 80.
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