{"id":272479,"date":"2026-02-07T14:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T14:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/272479\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T14:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T14:47:22","slug":"jason-momoa-and-dave-bautista-hit-it-off-in-new-zealand-made-action-flick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/272479\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista hit it off in New Zealand-made action flick"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Russell<\/p>\n

Review by<\/p>\n

Russell Baillie<\/a><\/p>\n

Arts & entertainment editor\u00b7New Zealand Listener\u00b7<\/p>\n

6 Feb, 2026 05:04 PM3 mins to read<\/p>\n

NZ Listener Arts & Entertainment Editor Russell Baillie has worked at the Listener since 2017 and was previously the editor of the NZ Herald\u2019s TimeOut section.<\/p>\n

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Brothers in arms: Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

The Wrecking Crew, directed by \u00c1ngel Manuel Soto, is now streaming on Prime.<\/p>\n

\n The Wrecking Crew might be a throwback to buddy-cop action comedies of yesteryear, but it still contains plenty that surprises. And they aren\u2019t just the familiar faces in the supporting cast of a movie filmed mostly in
\n New Zealand substituting for Hawai\u2018i \u2013 after one short but memorable scene he features in, we may never look at Josh Thomson in quite the same way again.\n <\/p>\n

The nicest surprise is that it\u2019s genuinely, if stupidly, enjoyable, care of its lead double-act of Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, which has more going for it than just having two well-known, very large men beating \u2013 or shooting or stabbing \u2013 the crap out of anyone who gets in their way. Which, of course, they do.<\/p>\n

But all that mayhem is grounded in the rocky relationship between these two half-brothers, Jonny (Momoa) and James. The former is an Oklahoma cop who, you\u2019ll be surprised to hear, doesn\u2019t play by the rules. The latter is a hardcore US Marines sergeant and family man.<\/p>\n

They are brought back together after the murder of their estranged dad, a Honolulu private detective who wasn\u2019t quite Magnum PI. They must bury their differences, with a brief pause to beat the crap out of each other, bond once more then take on Marcus Robichaux, the villain with the French name, English accent and Thai kickboxing skills played with relish by Danish star Claes Bang<\/a>. He gets a topknot to twirl rather than a moustache, and a small army of henchmen, supplemented by yakuza thugs fresh from the Kill Bill temp agency.<\/p>\n

Other movies that director \u00c1ngel Manuel Soto has possibly seen include Old Boy, Bad Boys and various Lethal Weapons.<\/p>\n

That the lead characters aren\u2019t actually cops in Hawai\u2018i doesn\u2019t seem to matter. There\u2019s even the standard scene where the pair are hauled into the police boss\u2019s office for the traditional dressing-down, despite the fact they don\u2019t even work there.<\/p>\n

But the fun of Momoa and Bautista\u2019s ying-yang gives The Wrecking Crew a free pass to the logic gaps and possibly its disregard for the lives of civilian bystanders. They\u2019re helped by nice supporting turns from Roimata Fox as James\u2019s wife, Frankie Adams as the brothers\u2019 cousin, and Temuera Morrison as friend and the governor of Hawai\u2018i.<\/p>\n

No, it\u2019s not much of a detective story. But the biggest mystery is why Amazon Prime released this straight-to-streamer on the same day it released First Lady documentary Melania in cinemas. It\u2019s certainly got enough big-screen bang for the multiplex. Then again, Bautista has loudly mocked Trump, a politician who has had plenty of support from the intellectual giants of the wrestling entertainment industrial complex where he first became a star. <\/p>\n

Rating out of five: \u2605\u2605\u2605\u00bd<\/p>\n

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