It’s officially time for the holiday movies to roll out. While these films are incredibly exciting and enjoyable for many, Red One, starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, J. K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka and Bonnie Hunt, may make you wish for a redo to the start of the holiday season.
Directed by Jake Kasdan, the action comedy movie is set around Santa Claus being kidnapped right before Christmas. While there’s certainly a lot of talent on the screen, even some of our favourite actors can’t wrangle this chaotic story.
Red One release date: Nov. 15
Director: Jake Kasdan
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, J. K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, Wesley Kimmel
Writers: Chris Morgan, Hiram Garcia
Simmons plays Santa Claus, or “Nick” (code name: Red One) who’s working out and gearing up in the high-tech North Pole operation for the big night, when he travels around the world delivering presents. The head of security by his side is Callum Drift, who hands in his resignation letter after hundreds of years of work, feeling defeated by all the rude adults in the world that just act like jerks.
But not so fast, because shortly after that moment Santa is kidnapped by the winter witch, Gryla (Shipka). In order to find him before the holiday, Callum has to team up with Jack O’Malley (Evans).
Evans is a hacker and a deadbeat dad who was hired by an anonymous client for a job, which ended being Gryla’s request to get Nick’s location.
If Callum and Jack can’t find Santa in time, Christmas will be ruined.
It’s fair to say that Red One is probably not going to make it into the category of holidays films that many people re-watch every year, like Elf, The Grinch or Die Hard, to name a few.
The story lacks any real originality. It’s incredibly predictable so you never really feel like the core conflict is that critical. While watching Red One it’s easy to just start thinking about all the other holiday movies you could be watching instead.
It’s also overstuffed with a bunch of acronyms for organizations associated with the North Pole operations, and supernatural mythology, and it’s all far too convoluted to effectively follow.
Maybe that would be alright if the film really leaned into the action and comedy, but the film is a let down in those areas as well.
Admittedly, we’ve become accustomed to Marvel-level visuals in films, but with reportedly costing $250 million, it’s still missing the grand feel that you’d assume this movie would have, with its CGI-heavy execution.
Additionally, much of the intended comedy comes from a series on one-liners that feel hollow.
In terms of the performances, Shipka is a particular standout, even though her character’s motivation is a lack lustre quest. But what makes Red One avoid being a complete failure is that there is this really appealing dynamic between Evans and Johnson. It salvages the production, a least a little bit, but still leaves you wishing you could put these actors in a different movie.
