The Wrecking Crew review: Momoa and Bautista in a lean, mean buddy action film

Calum Marsh, writing in The New York Times on Jan. 28, 2026, calls The Wrecking Crew a "lean, mean buddy action flick." The film is directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and stars Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista; running time is 2 hours 2 minutes and it is available to watch on Prime Video.

Marsh praises the film’s action, saying its fights are brisk and its car chases lively, and argues that Momoa and Bautista are at their best punching, kicking and blasting through a straight-ahead shoot-em-up rather than in superhero franchises. The review frames the movie as an unapologetic throwback to buddy cop films of the 1980s and ’90s.

The two leads play estranged half brothers who are forced to reconcile after their father, a private detective in Hawaii, is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run. Marsh describes the mystery as a fairly predictable "Chinatown" riff involving government corruption and a nefarious multimillionaire played by Claes Bang, but notes the plot largely exists to move the pair from one set piece to the next.

The review highlights several set pieces: a close-quarters fight in which Momoa, caught at home, fends off knife-wielding Yakuza henchmen in his bathrobe; an over-the-top highway chase involving a minivan and a helicopter; and a filmed tribute to the side-scrolling hallway fight from Oldboy.

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