SPOILER-FREE PLOT SUMMARY
When his father dies in an apparent hit-and-run accident, Navy SEAL James Hale (played by Dave Bautista) realizes he hasn’t talked to his half-brother Jonny (Jason Momoa), a cop in Kansas City, for years. While literally receiving the news via phone, Jonny’s confronted in his home by the vicious Yakuza gang. Knowing there’s not a lot of Yakuza in Missouri, he knows this must be tied to something bigger and he books the first flight out to Hawaii in order to attend the funeral and try and figure out who killed his dad. The two half-brothers, one disciplined and one troubled, make every attempt to band together despite their differences. In their investigative work, they meet a cast of characters who may or may not lead them to answers but who definitely lead them to trouble. Can they survive each other long enough to solve the alleged murder and save their homeland?
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
Largely a formulaic genre, buddy cop action comedies are dependent on the chemistry between the two leads. Thankfully, Momoa and Bautista are naturals in THE WRECKING CREW and play off each other as well as Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell in THE OTHER GUYS, as well as Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 HOURS and as well as Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in THE HEAT. And, really, that’s all you want from a movie like this.
This Amazon Prime Video exclusive is a fun watch. With a two-hour run time, it’s a little longer than it needs to be and some of the action sequences (notably the fist fight between the two leads) are pure filler and feel more like obligations than they do story servers. But, overall, you won’t mind as the chemistry between Momoa and Bautista compensates quite well.
Kudos for including the fight to protect native land as part of the story. It gives the film some substance, allows for natural representation, gives credence to the racial term “haole” used throughout and shines a light on an era’s-long plight that most Americans don’t think about.
In short, there’s nothing special here but the most important ingredient is strong and, in the end, that’s what makes THE WRECKING CREW enjoyable. It’s funny where it should be, the story is serviceable and the performances are solid but it’s Momoa and Bautista’s chemistry that pushes it to an above average score.
Oh, and bonus points to director Ángel Manuel Soto for the Wu-Tang reference early on with the payoff callback later.
JKG SCORE: 6.0
Untitled Film Project 