The Wrecking Crew

Unwilling to transcend fan expectations or take its muscular stars outside of their comfort zones, The Wrecking Crew features considerably more brawn than brains.

This assembly-line action-comedy benefits from an exotic visual backdrop and some lively set pieces. Yet while the film literally plays to the strengths of actors Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, the gags feel labored and any attempt to escalate the underlying emotional stakes falls flat.

When his father meets his demise under suspicious circumstances, Hawaiian ex-military officer James (Bautista) barely shrugs his shoulders. Their relationship apparently was beyond repair.

His wife (Roimata Fox) hastily makes arrangements and reaches out to the straitlaced James’ estranged half-brother in Oklahoma, Jonny (Momoa), an impulsive biker and part-time detective who reluctantly shows up the funeral.

Clues prompt suspicion that their dad was murdered, which sparks the siblings’ curiosity. Once they find common ground, of course, investigating his death teaches them more about his life. However, as they connect with their roots, they might not like what they find.

Along the way, they become entangled in a conspiracy involving organized crime, shady real-estate dealings, and political corruption. They cross paths with, among others, a local police chief (Stephen Root), their late father’s associate (Jacob Batalon), an enigmatic British mobster (Claes Bang), and a popular gubernatorial candidate (Temuera Morrison).

As directed by Angel Manuel Soto (Blue Beetle), the film showcases some creatively choreographed chases and confrontations, such as an early sequence in which Jonny dispatches two random henchmen in his bathroom, serenaded by the catchy Air Supply ballad “Making Love Out of Nothing at All.”

Clairvoyance isn’t required to figure out quickly where the derivative screenplay by Jonathan Tropper (Kodachrome) is going, with its wooden dialogue ready-made for preoccupied streaming audiences, and its stock periphery characters. The story becomes more far-fetched as it progresses, with a half-hearted nod to island cultural traditions and whatnot.

Bautista and Momoa seem to have fun tossing off quips and developing adversarial chemistry, even though the central mystery is not compelling enough to fill the gaps between the strategically timed mayhem.

Considering all the trouble their genealogical quest brings in The Wrecking Crew, maybe James and Jonny would be better off not caring, just like moviegoers.

Rated R, 122 minutes.