The action in “The Wrecking Crew” is so good, its fights so brisk and its car chases so lively, that it makes you wish its muscular leads, Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, had starred in more decent action movies. That might sound odd, given that they’ve each spent a decade heading up superhero franchises — Momoa as Aquaman, Bautista as Drax the Destroyer in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” But their gifts have been smothered in visual effects and spandex. What they should have been doing is what they do so well here: punch, kick and blast their way through a straight-ahead shoot-em-up picture, taking the occasional break for a corny one-liner. Who needs a costume and a green screen when you’ve got bulging biceps on the beach?
From its vintage title card to its retro jukebox soundtrack, “The Wrecking Crew” is an unapologetic throwback, indebted to the buddy cop films of the 1980s and ’90s, like “48 Hrs.” and “Tango & Cash.” Momoa and Bautista play estranged half brothers with similar builds but clashing temperaments, forced to temporarily reconcile when their father, a private detective in Hawaii, is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run. The mystery that transpires is a fairly predictable “Chinatown” riff involving government corruption and a nefarious multimillionaire played by Claes Bang, but the story, of course, is incidental by design: Its purpose is to escort Momoa and Bautista from one action set piece to another.
Those set pieces, though — hoo boy. The director, Ángel Manuel Soto, seems intent on redeeming himself after the maligned “Blue Beetle,” and he applies himself to the action with uncommon energy and invention. An early fight in which Momoa, caught at home unawares, fends off knife-wielding Yakuza henchmen in his bathrobe, is a master class in close-quarters stunt choreography, while a highway chase involving a minivan and a helicopter is more delightfully over-the-top than anything in the past half-dozen “Fast and Furious” installments. Cars explode, grenades go off and limbs are separated from bodies; and it almost all has an old-school heft to it that shows care for the craft. Soto even pays tribute to the famous side-scrolling hallway fight from “Oldboy,” which would be sacrilege if it weren’t done with such élan.
The two half brothers — one a cop, the other a Navy SEAL — are maybe not different enough to create the required odd-couple dynamic. (Their main distinction, as one character observes, is that Bautista has much less hair.) But they have an easy, believable brotherly rapport, and Momoa, in particular, exudes charisma, with an impudent bad boy charm that in the past he’s shown more in interviews than onscreen. Rolling down Hawaii highways together on vintage motorcycles, wearing cool leather jackets and doing martial arts with the Yakuza, Momoa and Bautista simply seem in their element, like Arnold Schwarzenegger hauling a bazooka on his shoulder in “Commando” or Sylvester Stallone firing a machine gun in “Rambo III.” For proper action stars, all you need is the right backdrop and an excuse to go buck wild. It’s nice to see these two given the opportunity.
The Wrecking Crew Rated R for graphic violence, strong language and drug use. Running time: 2 hours 2 minutes. Watch on Prime Video.
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