written by: Jonathan Tropper
produced by: Jeffrey Fierson, Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Matt Reeves & Lynn Harris
directed by: Ángel Manuel Soto
rated: R (for strong bloody violence, sexual material, pervasive language and some drug use)
runtime: 122 min.
U.S. release date: January 28, 2026 (Prime Video)
“The Wrecking Crew” is not the latest MCU entry (if you know, you know), but rather an attempt to update the buddy cop action comedies of the late 80s/early 90s. From the outside looking in, it would seem that Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa would be the perfect duo to revive the subgenre. Sure, there’s an expectation of loud testosterone-fueled behavior, but here are two actors who are capable of giving more than that. They just need the right material to show their range. Sadly, this isn’t it.
Director Ángel Manuel Soto proved he has the ability to inject some spirited energy into a superhero action comedy with “Blue Beetle”, but he runs into trouble with Jonathan Tropper’s (“The Adam Project”) screenplay, which can’t decide which lane to collide in: family-friendly action comedy or R-rated violence with some hefty collateral damage.
The movie opens with a death in Honolulu, as private detective Walter (Brian L. Keaulana) is killed in a hit-and-run one night after dropping a package in a mailbox. News of his demise reaches his son, James (Bautista), a former Navy SEAL turned drill instructor, living just outside the city with his child psychiatrist wife, Leila (Roimata Fox, great and underutilized), and their two young children, daughter Lani (Maia Kealoha, from last year’s “Lilo & Stitch), and her older brother, Monty (Mark R. Black). The news of his father’s death hits his wife harder than it does him, which gives you an idea of how close James was to his father.
Knowing James won’t make the call, Leila contacts her husband’s half-brother, Jonny (Mamoa), someone she’s never met, to inform him of the recent death. Jonny works as a cop on an Oklahoma reservation and has recently been dumped by his girlfriend, Valentina (Morena Baccarin), who’s exhausted by the man-child’s behavior. James is, of course, surprised that Jonny actually shows up, since he hasn’t been on the island in about twenty years. Jonny barely knew their father and has been more concerned about his mother’s unsolved murder from some time ago.
Neither brother has much patience or tolerance for the other, but eventually both agree that there’s more to their father’s death than a hit-and-run. When they team up and launch their own investigation, that doesn’t make Detective Sergeant Karl Rennert (Stephen Root) too happy. That’s an appropriate response, considering just about every move these two make results in collateral damage and fatalities, as both local and foreign gangsters zero in on them. Along the way, they get on the wrong side of local businessman Marcus Robichaux (Claes Bang) and become concerned about Governor Mahoe (Temuera Morrison), who employs their cousin, Haunani “Nani” Palakiko (Frankie Adams). Their actions culminate in the requisite gunplay, car chases, explosions, and brawling that’s expected in this subgenre.
Tropper and Soto establish each brother’s personality early on, so we can see the obvious differences that will clash when they reunite. Bautista’s James is seen drilling young Navy recruits in underwater stamina, establishing him as disciplined and intimidating while remaining a calm, supportive husband/father at home. On the flipside, there’s Jonny, who’s an incorrigible rascal and somewhat self-destructive with his drinking. Before he travels to Hawaii, he’s visited by a trio of Yakuza, who storm his place looking for a package that his father mailed him. Jonny knows nothing about it, but that doesn’t stop him from obliterating his home invaders as they attack him in his bathroom while wearing an unbelievable towel that manages to stay tied on the entire time. Soto combines this first action sequence with graphic violence and Momoa’s off-screen helicoptering, designed to distract his attacker.
Right away, the tone is somewhat confusing, with juvenile humor contrasting with gratuitous violence, a mix that gets less satisfying as the story unfolds. When Bautista and Momoa crack wise, the humor works. They’re funny together and work well off each other. When some of the action sequences become high-stakes scenarios in open public spaces, like on a crowded street or a busy highway, Tropper and Soto play it all for laughs. This is baffling, considering how James is set up as someone who wants to approach situations and people with some structure and by-the-book common sense.
The only time the combined humor and violence work here is when the two brothers get in a fight in the police parking lot. The culmination of the fight finds the two brothers, rain-soaked and finally opening up about the regret and shame they carry for their past, both asking for forgiveness in their own way. It’s the one moment in the movie where we see the two actors show some emotional range.
But that’s it, since Tropper isn’t concerned with maintaining stimulating emotions, offering instead standard-issue action with flares of graphic violence that’s played for laughs. It’s supposed to be funny that a Yakuza motorcycle goon’s arm is ripped off during the highway fight, but maybe it’s there to make up for the fact that the central mystery isn’t that intriguing or suspenseful.
That being said, some of the action is so illogical that it would fit better in a “Naked Gun” movie. For example, the first time Jonny meets Walter’s profane assistant, Pika (Jacob Batalon), is when Jonny is rummaging through his father’s office. This surprises Walter and sends him panicking out the door and then parkouring down three stories onto the pavement below. Batalon is a funny guy and always adds convincing “Guy in a Chair” vibes to a movie (see the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies and last year’s Novocaine”), but…parkour? Even if it was done by a stunt double (obviously), it still has a ripcord effect and adds a head-scratching element to the movie.
Tropper seems to want to pay homage to the buddy cop movies of Walter Hill and Shane Black, while also attempting Paul Feig or David Gordon Green humor. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. Either would’ve been fine. The charm and star power of the two leads isn’t enough here, and Soto isn’t able to pull something unique or different from this routine and predominantly unfunny screenplay. “The Wrecking Crew” would’ve been better off picking a lane of either serious suspense or comedy fun.
