SAS: Red Notice, a wild and intense journey that recently started its streaming debut. This is a treat for those who enjoy rhythmic adventure films and others who create a psychological thriller. It implicitly deals with the latter genre, urging the viewer to examine each character to understand its respective psychopathic trends. By their very nature, the numerous scenes of combat are less subtle, from hand to hand to armed action. It’s a good mixture.
Actor Andy Serkis is starring as George Clements, an operative of the Special Forces leading into the Channel Tunnel when mercenary men take all the passengers and crew hostages on a train trip from England to Paris. The passenger list includes Tom Buckingham, a particular operator of Clements, who does not take any sick days, played by Sam Heughan. The film found Tom out of service and went with his boyfriend to France on a romantic tour.
Serkis had immediately been sold on the gig. He said, “I’ve been directing quite a bit, and I read this script and found it engaging and cool. It’s a rollicking, rollercoaster ride — like Die Hard in the Channel Tunnel. It’s an entertaining piece. It’s got it all. It has a romance to it. It’s an enjoyable movie with a geopolitical underpinning.”
Andy Serkis said this film is one that he would “like on a different stage” because he combines headache mystery and high-voltage behaviour. The actor added, “I’m fairly fit and keep myself tuned up for work, but I did have to engage in some preparation. I didn’t spend as much time as the other guys who had to do a lot of the physical jumping through windows type of stuff, but I did some physical training and a little bit of weapons training.”
Everything the actors did in advance to prepare for their roles contributed to what Serkis regarded as the result of an “authentic” film. The writer Andy McNab, a retired officer of the Special Forces, wrote SAS: The Red Notice is based on, added, “All this war stuff came right from the horse’s mouth. “There is carelessly done anything relating to gunplay and weapons in the movie.” McNab’s expertise gives the project, which distinguishes SAS: Red Notice from other action films of its kind, real credibility.
The next significant role of Andy Serkis is Alfred Pennyworth in The Batman, released in 2022.
