Jonathan Sim
The action-comedy The Wrecking Crew stars Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista as estranged half-brothers Jonny and James. The brothers are forced to reunite following the mysterious death of their father, and as they search for the truth, they uncover buried secrets and a conspiracy that threatens to tear their family apart.
Behind the scenes, director Ángel Manuel Soto drew deep inspiration from action classics, explaining, “I think a lot of the films that we were inspired by were like Lethal Weapon or 48 Hours, Die Hard, and a lot of those big action muscular movies from the 80s.”
He also heavily integrated the influence of international cinema into the film’s choreography: “While we were in New Zealand filming, I was really absorbing a lot of Korean cinema. I got very inspired by the way they handle action and they kept it fun, grounded, and also pushing forward how action can play and speak about character as opposed to just being action for the sake of action. Oldboy was a huge inspiration.”
The cast brought a similar level of dedication and humor to their roles. Jacob Batalon, who has a standout parkour-filled introduction in the film, was quick to give credit to the professionals behind the scenes. Batalon stated, “I would not take credit for that at all. My stunt guy is so hard. Like, they are so cool. And honestly, it was my—I feel like I messed up a lot and he had to do a lot of takes for me because I was messing up. Because I just couldn’t really get the ‘cowboy switch’ going. I really apologize to him for that, but their whole stunt team was just unbelievably talented and like really strong and cool. I definitely will not take credit for it.”
Actress Morena Baccarin highlighted a scene that allowed her to inject her own real-world frustrations into her character, particularly when Jason Momoa’s character assumes his Brazilian girlfriend speaks Spanish. Baccarin explained the inclusion of the bit: “That was something that I think we were talking about because this happens all the time to me, and it makes me insane, and I thought what a great opportunity to air that out. But also like here we are, we have a director who speaks Spanish, an actress who speaks Portuguese and then Jason who is playing this like ‘dumb dumb’ character. I was like, let’s hammer this point in with this guy. It was always like trying to find little things to deepen who she is versus who he is to make the two of them so at odds with each other.”
Writer Jonathan Tropper, who previously worked with Momoa and Bautista on the series See, utilized their real-life friendship to anchor the film’s emotional weight. Tropper broke down the dynamic he created for the duo: “Jason is sort of the uninhibited, unfiltered, loud one. Dave is the disciplined, reserved, mature one. He’s military. He’s more laconic. Jason can clown a little bit and he can make a lot of fun, but Dave can cut you down with three words. And so it’s just playing sort of the louder, bigger personality against the quieter, more incisive personality and then watching them just rub each other the wrong way.” Tropper noted that while the comedy is front and center, the heart of the movie is the brothers “grappling with their relationship” and “shared trauma.”
The director also infused the film with a visceral sense of action that stems from his own personal phobias. Soto admitted, “Being able to do a scene where someone gets mauled by a cheese grater is something that I’ve always wanted to do because I’m always afraid of cutting my fingers when I do the shredded cheese. And because it’s also a fear, I’m like, just thinking about it, I’m already squirming—like a mandolin or something. Like, okay, let’s just do it on a movie”. This gritty approach was supported by filming on location in Hawaii and New Zealand, where the director found “kinship within the locals” and praised the crews for their exceptional work.
Beyond the world of The Wrecking Crew, Jonathan Tropper is also looking toward the future with his work on the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter. While he could not share specific plot details, he spoke about the core feeling he hopes to capture for fans of the franchise: “I think what everyone was on board for doing was just kind of recreate the sense of adventure and excitement that we all felt as kids seeing those first movies, back in ’77 and ’80 and ’83. When it was just something fresh and new and adventure and wish fulfillment—we just wanted to go back to that feeling, and I think we’ve done that.”
Audiences can see Tropper’s current work when The Wrecking Crew premieres on Prime Video on January 28.
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