An action comedy movie starring and produced by half-Native Hawaiian Jason Momoa and half-Filipino American Dave Bautista, The Wrecking Crew resulted from the burly AAPI performers apparently feeling the need to will another opportunity for the spotlight. After the second – and best-reviewed – season of the dystopian TV series See depicted Momoa and Bautista as antagonistic brothers, they pitched a buddy cop comedy set in Hawaii. See writer Jonathan Tropper – whom I recognize as the showrunner of Warrior – would provide a screenplay expanding upon the duo’s acting-related strengths; casting would-be thespian Bautista as a disciplined Navy SEAL, and typically-comedic Momoa as an uncouth policeman. Filming in Hawaii and New Zealand would allow additional AAPI entertainers to join the supporting cast and crew. The description, casting, and advertisements for The Wrecking Crew suggested a guilty pleasure, but the final result seems more polished and substantial than I originally expected.
The Wrecking Crew
Release date: January 28, 2026
Director: Ángel Manuel Soto
Writer: Jonathan Tropper
The way I see it, there was a time I should’ve been there for you, and I wasn’t. I’m here for you now.
-James Hale
“Estranged half-brothers Jonny (Momoa) and James (Bautista) Hale reunite after their father (Brian L. Keaulana)’s mysterious death. As they search for the truth, buried secrets reveal a conspiracy threatening to tear their family apart.” (Prime synopsis)
As fulfilled, Momoa’s pet project entertains in essential areas of a buddy cop comedy. Action scenes engage when they utilize a brutal variety of weaponry, movesets, and filming techniques, and when the typically-secluded environments add to the tension or emotional quality. The mystery ultimately comes together through some contrivances, but complies with the movie’s established logic. The humor likely won’t appeal to all viewers, relying heavily on crass dialogue and cultural references. To me, it proves more palpable with Momoa’s charisma and Bautista’s deadpan demeanor.
The Hawaiian setting feels more integral than a gimmick, when it adds diasporic themes to Jonny’s otherwise-rudimentary development towards a more altruistic and structured lifestyle. While James appears to have spent his entire life in Hawaii, Jonny’s personal hardships required him to switch home states at least twice. His return to the Aloha State allows him not only to settle his suspicions that Walter (Keaulana) died from murder rather than an accident, and to help repair his relationship with James, but also strengthen his connection to Walter’s culture. Accordingly, several of the licensed songs mention coming home. The diaspora themes become especially apparent during Jonny’s gradually less-hostile interactions with the local Syndicate, and when the brothers and their cousin Nani (Samoan Frankie Adams) connect the circumstances of Walter’s killing with schemes to erect a European casino over an indigenous community. Admittedly, the community’s inhabitants remain overshadowed by Hawaiians with more personal or professional relationships to the Hale family, including Walter’s helpful colleague Pika (Filipino-Hawaiian Jacob Batalon). Nonetheless, all of these interactions help support a self-actualized arc for Jonny.
Supposedly because Momoa conceived this movie years before he met Tropper and Bautista, James’ character development feels more limited. Because the respected and hardworking Navy SEAL and patriarch seems to live a more organized adulthood than Jonny to begin with, his growth while solving the mystery simply focuses mainly on becoming a more considerate half-brother. Even if James’ arc revolves entirely around Jonny, their partnership feels more equal than one brother treating the other like a sidekick.
I don’t know any Pacific Islanders well enough to vouch for or dispute the authenticity of the non-Hawaiian actors, but I doubt that it mattered to Momoa. For both See and this movie, he himself gave the role of his brother to Washington, DC-born Bautista; who strengthened both the physique and the heart of basically a cameo in Blade Runner 2049. During this feature, the performers demonstrate realistic chemistry when the brothers piece together the clues, process such lingering turmoils as Jonny’s inability to figure out his mother’s killing, or even fight each other. This chemistry demonstrates their bond more convincingly than the stilted dialogue describing their lives before Walter’s demise. Meanwhile, the actors from New Zealand deliver serviceable performances in roles with less screentime or importance. (Even as part-Māori Temuera Morrison, plausibly cast in reference to Aquaman, fails to hide his natural accent as Governor Mahoe.) With The Wrecking Crew, Momoa and Bautista have produced a guilty pleasure dispatching more pleasure than guilt.
Plug
This press conference with Momoa, Bautista, and Puerto Rican-American director Ángel Manuel Soto shared some compelling insight into the movie’s conception and cultural or familial themes:
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