What are the chances of two completely different movies with almost identical titles being released in the same year? Well, quite common, apparently. One such film attempted to find success with the nameSAS: Red Noticein the same year as Netflix released Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot’s monster of a movie,Red Notice. Never heard of it? Well, there you go. However, it is currently finding some belated success onSTARZ, where it is sitting at number five on the movie chart.
SAS: Red Noticewas also released under the name ofSAS: Rise of the Black Swan– cool, half steal another famous movie title to make it different – but whichever name it was given in your country, the result was still a panned flop that some called a “poor man’sDie Hard, and also a poor man’sUnder Siege 2.” Now that’s painful.
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Strangely, the 2021 release had a more than accomplished cast, which makes the mostly negative reviews (although critics did like it more than Netflix’s Johnson/Reynolds/Gadot threeway) even more surprising. Led byone-time James Bond hopeful Sam Heughan, formerBatwomanstar Ruby Rose, Tom Hopper, the incredible Hannah John-Kamen, Batman Begins star Tom Wilkinson, andthe multi-talented Andy Serkis,SAS: Whatever You Want to Call Itdidn’t seem to please many people, but if you just want action, action and a side-serving of action, then it might just entertain you enough for its lengthy two-hour runtime. The synopsis of the movie reads:
“Tom Buckingham (Heughan), a special forces operator, is taking Dr. Sophie Hart from London to Paris to propose. When their train is deep inside the Channel Tunnel, Grace Lewis (Rose) and her team of heavily armed war criminals seize the train and hold hundreds of passengers hostage. Grace threatens to expose the British governments darkest secrets and blow up the Channel Tunnel if her ransom demands are not met. Unarmed and cut off from his counter terror team, Tom is the only hope that Sophie and the other passengers have to make it out alive.”
‘SAS: Red Notice’ Should Be an Authentic Thrill-Ride
Whatever is lacking inSAS: Red Notice/Rise of the Black Swan, authenticity should not really be an issue, as the movie is based on the novel by British SAS operative Andy McNab. McNab is probably best known for his biographical Gulf War novelBravo Two Zero, which was made into a 1998 movie starring Sean Bean as the author. However, it seems that when it comes toSAS: Red Notice, the gripping action of that movie is replaced with something a little more generic and popcorny.
The movie ended up with a middle-of-the-road 52% score from Rotten Tomatoes critics, and 61% from audiences. Opinions were definitely split on the movie.City AM’sVictoria Luxford called it a “glossy testosterone-filled ride that will pass an evening for those who love their action big and blunt.” On the flip side of that, an audience review from David S says it is “an epic waste of time” with a “terrible, poorly thought out, inconceivable plot.” One of the biggest complaints about the movie is the script, which picks up many different descriptions including “lousy,” ‘boring,” “disjointed,” and “appalling.” But, none of that seems to matter with a position on Starz’s merry-go-round of newly added content, and a nice Marvel-style poster to entice a click.
Source: Flix Patrol
SAS: Red Notice
