The Wrecking Crew (2026)

James Hale (Dave Bautista) and Jonny Hale (Jason Momoa) could be the odd couple except for the fact that they are not roommates living in New York City, they’re brothers separated by distance and a deep animosity built up over many years and profound misunderstandings. Actually, the word misunderstanding doesn’t cut it for these two. They have issues, deep-seated psychological family issues that stem from the impact of their father’s poor decisions. The very fact of Jonny’s existence itself was an affront to James because Jonny was the product of their dad’s infidelity. Yep, it’s messy!

Directed by Angel Manuel Soto, written by Jonathan Tropper, and set in Honolulu, this high-octane movie is full of action (often to the point of gore), but it’s also a heartwarming comedy about family betrayal, family devotion, and forgiveness. James, we come to find out, the eldest, a disciplined marine and settled family man with a devoted wife and two young children, abandoned his brother in hard times and moved forward without looking back. Well, that’s Jonny’s story at least.

So, why would Jonny, an unorthodox cop, with a messy life and routine irresponsible behaviour, head back to Hawaii after so many years away? Well, their father, Walter Hale (Brian L. Keaulana), has not only died, but he has done so under very suspicious circumstances and neither of them is buying that the supposed hit-and-run was random. As it turns out, their father was a private detective who had stumbled upon a scheme to steal indigenous land to build a casino and there are quite a few people, gangsters and politicians alike, who wanted to silence him.

But first things first, these two estranged brothers will have to stop bad mouthing and fighting each other long enough to team up to go after the real bad guys. The underlying family and relationship tensions arise from several directions. With the brothers deeply at odds, it is James’s beautiful and intuitive wife, psychologist Leile (Roimata Fox), who summons Jonny back to Hawai’i for their father’s funeral. Meanwhile, Jonny departs Oklahoma after his attractive, intelligent, and “you’ve gotten on my last nerve” girlfriend, Valentina (Morena Baccarin), dumps him after he forgets her birthday.

Also in the mix are long-time friend of the family Governor Peter Mahoe (Temuera Morrison) and Pika (Jacob Batalon) who worked with the Hale brothers’ deceased father. Stephen Root’s Detective Rennert is a little too much like Joe Pantoliano’s Captain Howard of the Bad Boys action franchise, while some action sequences – like the shootout between the Hale brothers, Valentina, and Piko and a helicopter full of machine gun-wielding baddies on a highway – are exciting, but outlandish.

To the film’s credit, the cast is beautifully diverse with many key indigenous Hawaiian characters alongside Asians. It was also amazing and noteworthy to see the two leading men coupled up with intelligent female characters (who hold their own on screen), also in their late thirties and forties! And get this, these talented and beautiful women didn’t look like toothpicks. Imagine that! Oh, the possibilities.

Arguably, the best part of this movie is the onscreen chemistry between Bautista and Momoa whose love-hate dance and tender reconciliation as the Hale brothers is both moving and abundantly believable.