Red Notice is a film that stars Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds. A dream cast, and one that I was excited for, but the thing is that I’ve been burned before. I’ve seen lineups that made me gasp, and then watched movies that were tragically underwhelming. This wasn’t one of them.

The opening credits had cool fonts and red accents and I was instantly excited. I stayed excited for roughly an hour and fifty-seven minutes. The story was compelling. There were plenty of jokes. (Thank you, Mr. Reynolds.) There were some startlingly emotional moments, and there were also some gags that I thought were a little much. All in all, a good movie.

Red Notice begins as FBI Agent John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) is trying to catch professional art thief Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds). Those cool opening credits set the stage: famous pharaoh Cleopatra had these three really cool golden eggs. One of them is in a museum, one of them is being held by a private owner, and one of them is completely lost to history. Booth is trying to steal that one egg from the museum, because why not and also because if he can collect all three of them he can get 300 million dollars from a buyer. Pretty good money, right? And he’s the best art thief in the world; he can get these eggs no problem. 

Or so he thinks. The Bishop (Gal Gadot) throws a wrench in his plans by being the actual best art thief in the world. She lands both Booth and Hartley in jail, and voila! We now have a storyline as the two unlikely friends — “we’re not friends” insists Hartley, “ because we’re best friends” says Booth — try to track both the Bishop and the eggs down.

There are so many twists and turns. I audibly gasped a few times. I can’t tell you about them, obviously, because that would be spoiling, but I’m willing to bet that you’ll be amused for a lot of this movie at the very least. Over half of it, at least. Sure, there are a few jokes that don’t quite land. It’s a bit crass at times. (Thank you, Mr. Reynolds.) But still, it’s a fun ride, and the vibes are immaculate.

The English major in me can’t resist commenting on the eggs, as a parting shot. Jeweled, golden, ancient sculptures of eggs are a weird thing to center a plot around, right? Yes, they are, and I think they are at least a little bit symbolic. I bet there’s a connection between the way characters deal with their emotions; they hide them and also they are fairly fragile and you know what? You’re right, this is nonsense. I guess I just want there to be a meaning. (I also want an omelette.)

Ambiguous meaning aside, Red Notice is an enjoyable watch and is worthy of being called a heist movie. If you have a couple of hours to kill and want to watch Dwayne Johnson being annoyed with Ryan Reynolds, give it a try.