Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds are polar opposites: one has muscles that many viewers envy, and the other has a sense of humor that draws many in and boasts gaining popularity among teenagers on the internet. However, when the two paired up for the new movie Red Notice, they were a pair beyond compare.

When the film began, my already low bar completely fell to the ground. The music was over-the-top, the plot seemed unoriginal, and the characters appeared to be a classic cast, which included the wise-cracking “not-so-bad bad guy,” the muscular hero who gets stuck with the so-called antagonist, and the attractive woman who throws a wrench into the operations. However, the characters ended up falling into roles I hadn’t quite imagined that spun my opinion 180 degrees.

The characters in Red Notice were what kept me engaged through the nearly two-hour runtime. When Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) made his appearance in the movie, I was instantly in love. When I say “in love,” I don’t mean in a romantic way—the character he played was incredibly well-crafted and likable. Booth, a criminal aiming to be the number one art thief, was verbally hilarious, very 21st century, and physically comedic.

On the other hand, FBI agent John Hartly (Dwayne Johnson) was far more serious and brought life to the saying “opposites attract” when paired with Booth. Between their “love scenes,” other forms of bromance, and their common quarrels, I couldn’t get enough of their contradicting personalities that had the perfect actors to manifest them. 

Another character I absolutely fell in love with was Sarah Black, also known as “The Bishop” (Gal Gadot). She had the classic, beautiful appearance, but she also had incredible physical strength and obviously towering intelligence. Throughout the movie, this fellow thief was always one step ahead of Booth and Hartly, appearing at every corner turned. Her wit and cunning personality kept the movie entertaining and unpredictable, which helped it stray from any unoriginality.

Along with the characters, the plot and visual elements also kept me guessing and eagerly awaiting the next adventure. Red Notice moved along quite quickly, with the characters hopping to locations around the world. While the recurring characters found a new country to clash in every time, the new environments also presented challenges that gave Booth, Hartly, and Black depth that they had not previously had.

Although some movies employ violence just for the shock effect or as a way to show off visuals, Red Notice wove it into the plot and made each bullet fired necessary to the story. None of the attacks seemed to be just for the sake of having a gun fired or a building exploded.

Finally, the comedic features of the film were at times utterly shocking to the point where I had to rewind the movie to see if I had heard such a risqué comment correctly. However, I was smiling to myself each time Booth made a sarcastic remark.

Generally, Netflix Original TV shows and movies are not to my taste—they are anything but original with their overused plots and shallow characters. Nonetheless, Red Notice had all of the action, adventure, and humor I could ask for in a movie.