‘The Wrecking Crew’ Review: Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa Get the Job Done in Fun, Forgettable Action-Comedy Trifle

Big guys beating bad guys, and occasionally each other, to a pulp is the basic idea behind the new Prime Video action movie starring Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa. In the unimaginatively titled The Wrecking Crew (not to be confused with the 2008 music doc or the cheesy 1968 Dean Martin movie), the two oversized, testosterone-laden actors play estranged half-brothers who team up to investigate their father’s mysterious hit-and-run death in the scenic environs of Honolulu. Yes, it’s the sort of buddy cop action-comedy that was once a multiplex staple but is now largely relegated to streaming. Although this Prime Video offering proves a lot more entertaining than the Chris Pratt starrer Mercy that was just released in theaters.

The Wrecking Crew doesn’t set out to reinvent the formula, but rather luxuriate in it. All of the familiar tropes are there, from the numerous pop songs peppering the action (including one by Phil Collins, just to remind you of Miami Vice) to the profane banter between the two main characters to the endless fights, shootouts and chases to the colorful villain. Regarding the last, he’s deliciously named Marcus Robichaux and played by Claes Bang sporting a top knot. Oh, and let’s not forget the perpetually aggrieved police superior, played by Stephen Root, who delivers lines like “Consider this your first warning!” Or the hapless sidekick (Jacob Batalon of the Tom Holland Spider-Man films) who is usually the brunt of the joke.

Movies like this depend almost entirely on chemistry between the co-stars, and fortunately Bautista and Momoa have plenty of it. The real-life friends instigated the project and serve as producers, with their obvious glee in playing off each other adding greatly to the enjoyment. Much like Riggs and Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon and Jack and Reggie in 48 Hrs., their characters’ personalities and styles are very different. Bautista’s straight-laced, laconic James is a family man first seen underwater training Navy SEALs how to hold their breath. Momoa’s irresponsible, endlessly chatty Jonny is first seen being dumped by his long-suffering girlfriend Valentina (Morena Baccarin) and is the kind of guy who quaffs a beer even while fighting off a gang of murderous yakuza.

Why yakuza, you may ask, in a film set largely in Hawaii? There’s not much point providing an explanation, since the murder mystery is the least interesting aspect of the screenplay by Jonathan Tropper (the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter). Rather, it’s merely an impetus for an increasingly bonkers series of action set pieces, the most spectacular of which is an over-the-top highway chase involving cars, helicopters and plenty of bodies propelled across the screen in a sequence that clearly had the stunt people working overtime.

Needless to say, James and Jonny get into it as well, engaging in a knock-down, drag -out fight that results not only in numerous bruises and contusions but also a heartfelt emotional epiphany. It’s not the film’s only attempt at psychological depth, with Jonny being haunted by the fact that his mother’s murder was never solved. But you don’t watch these sorts of movies for profound insights.

Rather, you watch them for the action, and director Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings, Blue Beetle) provides more than enough to satisfy genre enthusiasts. And for the quippy dialogue, most of it here delivered by Momoa and often referencing other action stars. “Oh, it’s fat John Cena,” Jonny comments after spotting one bad guy. And during a fight scene with the arch villain who unleashes some fierce body kicks, he taunts, “Fuck you, Van Damme.”

Although the superb New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors, The Book of Boba Fett) is on hand to lend some gravitas to the proceedings, The Wrecking Crew is the sort of fun but forgettable action movie trifle that at least knows which side its popcorn is buttered.