Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa are estranged brothers seeking to solve the mystery behind their father’s death in the new Prime Video movie The Wrecking Crew.
Bautista is a US Navy SEAL commander, James Hale, while Momoa is an Oklahoma police detective, Jonny Hale. When their father Walter (Brian L. Keaulana) is killed in an apparent hit and run and Johnny is attacked by Yakuza thugs in his home, it implies something bigger is going on. While the brothers try to repair their strained relationship, they attract the attention of businessman Marcus Robicheaux (Claes Bang), who is looking to build a casino on ancient Hawaiian homelands. The plot has enough twists and turns to keep things interesting, and the entire movie feels like a throwback to 80s and 90s buddy cop movies, like Lethal Weapon. Bautista and Momoa have great on-screen chemistry and settle into their roles: Momoa as the wild card and Bautista as the more cautious, reserved family man, à la Riggs and Murtaugh. Momoa has his Aquaman swagger on full display, pounding beers and constantly making quips and one-liners about his brother and everyone else he encounters, but both he and Bautista also do a great job when things get more dramatic and serious. Stephen Root fills in the role of the angry police captain as the local detective assigned to Walter’s death, and wants the brothers as far from it as possible. There could have been a bit more of Bang as the main villain, maybe a scene or two of him doing something nefarious or setting up the combat skills he shows off later in the film. He’s only in a brief scene with the brothers before the big finale, and Bang seems like he could have provided some deliciously evil acts before then. The rest of the supporting cast is solid, with Jacob Batalon and Morena Baccarin getting the most to do. Temeura Morrison appears as the governor of Hawaii and a family friend to the Hale family, and becomes more important later in the movie, but otherwise has little to do.
The action in The Wrecking Crew feels refreshingly old school, with one main exception. There are plenty of practical fights and stunts, including a great opening fight with Momoa and Yakuza goons, and a big finale shootout. There are also some surprisingly brutal kills and bloody violence throughout, such as a goon’s arm being ripped off during a car chase. There’s also a blatant but still effective homage to the hallway fight from Oldboy, where Bautista fights through a hall of Yakuza thugs armed with hammers, bats, and other melee weapons. There’s one scene in the middle of the film, the movie’s most significant set piece, where a helicopter is attacking the brothers, Baccarin and Batalon, on the highway, and you can feel the CGness of it and the floaty physics of the cars and bodies. It stands out especially compared with how well the other fights and action sequences are executed without CGI. There are still some practical elements in that chase, but the whole scene is glaring and feels like a bad video game cutscene at times.
The Wrecking Crew is a solid, fun buddy cop movie that will definitely appeal to fans who grew up on stuff like Lethal Weapon. Momoa and Bautista are a fantastic, bickering team who use their strength, charm, and humor. If you’re looking for an entertaining way to spend two hours while browsing Prime Video, definitely give The Wrecking Crew a spin.
