SAS: Red Notice Review

Based on a novel by Andy McNab, SAS: Red Notice is the British film industry’s attempt at making an action blockbuster and trying to start a series for Sky Cinema.

Tom Buckingham (Sam Heughan) is a SAS soldier who plans to propose to his girlfriend, Dr. Sophie Hart (Hannah John-Kamen) on a romantic trip to Paris. Unfortunately, their train gets hijacked by the mercenary group Black Swans, led by the psychopath Grace Lewis (Ruby Rose) who wants revenge against the British government. Buckingham has to act as the man behind enemy lines to prevent civilian causalities.

SAS: Red Notice is a British version of Die Hard. It follows the basic premise of a man with certain skills being in the middle of a terrorist attack. It’s a simple setup that worked for films like Speed, Cliffhanger, Sudden Death, and White House Down. But there are also plenty of low-budget, low-effort offerings, and SAS: Red Notice was closer to that level of film.

On paper SAS: Red Notice did attract an impressive cast. Heughan is considered a candidate to be the next James Bond, John-Kamen, Jing Lusi, and Tom Hopper have decent credits to their names, and Andy Serkis and Tom Wilkinson offer some gravitas. But none of the actors would be able to lift the one-dimensional characterisation they were given.

SAS: Red Notice was meant to be Heughan’s audition tape for James Bond. Buckingham was a posh, well-spoken military man who is focused and ruthless during a mission and has difficulty with relationships, just like a certain MI6 agent. Heughan looked the part because he is handsome and physically fit, but his character was an emotionless robot. The film states that Buckingham is a high-functioning psychopath, which made him a highly skilled soldier but unlikely to love. However, Bond does have emotions and a sense of fun, Buckingham lacked that. Heughan’s supporting role in The Spy Who Dumped Me was a better showcase of his potential Bond abilities.

Actors like Serkis and Wilkinson were dragged down by the material. Serkis was really hard hit because he was meant to be a working-class SAS officer and the Prime Minister’s personal fixer. Sadly, Serkis was unconvincing in the role. Wilkinson got to escape pretty early.

The worst performer was Ruby Rose as the villain. She certainly was no Alan Rickman or Dennis Hopper. Rose has never convinced me as an actor: her best role was in John Wick 2 and she was mute in that film. Rose was meant to be the big bad of the film but there was no getting past her woeful attempt at an American accent.

Despite SAS: Red Notice being an attempt of a franchise starter, it looked like a quickly made straight-to-DVD film. As an action film SAS: Red Notice was unremarkable: there was no invention or creativity behind them. It was like the filmmakers were thinking that gunfire would be enough to satisfy action fans. It didn’t help that most of the film was set on a train that was stuck in a tunnel which limited the action. It looked more like the He Who Dares films.

SAS: Red Notice also had scenes that were both hilarious and uncomfortable. Many revolved around Sophie Hart. One scene involved Sophie asking Tom to knock her unconscious which was unintentionally funny. A more uncomfortable scene was when Sophie was frisked by one of Grace’s henchmen and they groped the doctor.

SAS: Red Notice was the type of film that dragged everyone who was involved down due to the poor writing and direction. It failed as an action experience which was the least it could do.