Critic Reviews

It's a fun narrative, the action elements are well done and uncompromising, and the jokes work. Sure, the narrative could use a little shine in certain aspects, such as the conspiracy at the film's heart and the background of their newly deceased, estranged father, but as a whole, it's a stellar outing and a lot of fun, a blank check for a probable franchise.

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.

Momoa and Bautista are having an unhinged blast in The Wrecking Crew, as eager to rip each other a new one as they are to compare themselves (unfavourably and intentionally) to such contemporaries as John Cena and Dwayne Johnson.

Full-tilt Momoa and quietly powerful Bautista, with some gore and goofiness tossed in, is a satisfying improvement on the usual two-fisted formula.

What makes “The Wrecking Crew” worth seeing is what the cast and filmmakers do with the material. Simply put, this movie is better than its synopsis suggests, though not good enough to entirely overcome the familiarity of the component parts and the alternately jokey and sentimental tone (which is harder to pull off than studio executives seem to think).

This lean, mean, R-rated action machine is way better than you might think since Momoa and Bautista take the time, between fights and jokes, to examine the bruised places in the hearts of these half brothers. You feel for them, and that makes all the difference.

Never quite as funny as it wants to be, but making up for that in the violence department, it’s a healthy serving of slam-bang cinematic comfort food.

What you see in the key art and the first-look impression you get from the teaser and trailers is a clear and accurate indicator of what you’ll get in the film. And for many action movie fans that’ll do just fine.

The Wrecking Crew has finally put Momoa and Bautista on screen together and, thankfully, it largely lives up to the potential of the acting duo.

The Wrecking Crew doesn’t set out to reinvent the formula, but rather luxuriate in it.