By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 13 seconds ago
The Wrecking Crew teams Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista in a brotherly buddy movie whose trailer promises lots of explosions and great one-liners, kind of like the action heroes of 80s and 90s classics. It’s a rare streaming entry that actually delivers on that promise.
Momoa and Bautista play half-brothers James and Johnny, who share a father and a complicated past. Their father is killed in a hit-and-run accident, bringing the prodigal Johnny back to the family fold in Oahu, Hawaii, to at least investigate why the Yakuza visited his Oklahoma home. The brothers don’t see eye to eye, and James isn’t quite convinced their father was murdered, while Johnny is sure the Yakuza were involved.
Johnny is a cop, and James trains Navy SEALs, so both men know how to handle themselves as they begin to uncover a plot that threatens their Hawaiian home. A maze of Hawaiian gangsters, Yakuza hitmen, and elite security stands between them and the truth. As the brothers get closer to finding out about their father’s death and sorting out their own tangled relationship, they leave behind them an ever-increasing trail of destruction that will rock Oahu.
Classic Action Stars In The Modern Era
James and Johnny are classic action stars who recall the mayhem of classics like Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, or Commando. Almost every scene moves things along by leaving more questions than answers and inviting fights, explosions, car chases, and intrigue. As they try to solve the mystery, the brothers struggle to deal with each other, the memory of a dismissive father, and the threat to their families from the events they’ve been drawn into.
These two men are not the passive heroes of modern movies. They are manly men, dripping masculinity in every scene. They deal with their emotions as men (despite James’s wife being a child psychologist), and they solve their problems like action heroes: by beating the crap out of them, including each other.
The Wrecking Crew exhibits its leads as men, dressed in clothing that shows off the muscles of both actors, particularly Momoa. The Hawaiian setting gives them plenty of opportunity to wear things like Hawaiian shirts and tank tops, and no opportunity is wasted to show off the two actors to their best advantage.
However, as macho a movie as it is, the women are not weeping violets. They know who their men are, but they also do their part to help uncover the plot through their own ingenuity and agency. Morena Baccarin co-stars as Johnny’s love interest, whose scene in the movie’s trailer during one of the car chases does not do justice to her actual performance in the full sequence.
Every Trope Of The Genre In One Explosive Car Chase Scene
The Wrecking Crew’s action swings between well-choreographed melee and gun fights and frenetic car chases that raise the stakes every time, highlighted by cinematography that brings us along for the ride. Two skirmishes take place in a windowed hallway that reminded me of the “House of Blue Leaves” fight in Kill Bill Vol. 1. One car chase invokes every single trope of the genre, then amplifies them into an explosive crescendo. Don’t look away, because there are tons of visual cues that connect each scene to the next.
Part of the amazing visuals is the fact that Hawaii itself is made a character through the use of camera angles and imagery. Oahu, where the story takes place, is always present, from scenic drone shots to dramatic beach scenes and major action sequences. In specifically strategic shot, a prominent mountain peak is framed between the two leads, reminding viewers that Hawaii is always over their shoulders.
Maia Kealoha Redeems Herself In A Movie That’s Actually About Ohana
The Wrecking Crew also features True Blood’s Stephen Root and Frankie Adams of The Expanse, as well as Jacob Batalon, known for the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies and pretty much cast to type. Young Maia Kealoha, who played Lilo in Disney’s live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch, steals the show in almost every scene she’s in and hints at a promising career as an actress; at any rate, it’s nice to see Lilo get to be in a movie that is actually about ohana, or families sticking together, after the disappointment of her other major film.
If there is anything wrong with The Wrecking Crew, it’s a short period of investigation in the middle of the film that seems to drag on, especially compared to the intense pace of the rest of the movie. This part only lasts about 15-20 minutes, though, and then we’re thrust right back into adventure and excitement.
An Unapologetically Masculine Film
The Wrecking Crew is unapologetically masculine while exhibiting an emotional depth that doesn’t reduce its leads into weeping sissies. These men of action deal with things in very male ways without shame while never slipping into today’s tropes about “toxic masculinity.” They suffer and are not invulnerable, either physically or emotionally, but ultimately, they are men of honor doing what men do to protect their families.
The Wrecking Crew has found a way to give audiences what they’ve been missing: a compelling story, a cast of characters we can all aspire to be, and an old-fashioned battle between good and evil. Once you’re on this wild ride, you’re not getting off until the credits roll.
The Wrecking Crew is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.