Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Mysterious forces are out to destroy Christmas, and they have kidnapped jolly, old Saint Nick. Now, Santa’s head of E.L.F. security and a brilliant, yet very naughty, criminal must save Red One and the holiday.
Dwayne Johnson re-assembles his team from Jumanji to take on his first holiday feature. A surprise since he has a long history of both loving Christmas and cookie cutter action movies. Let us not bury the lead, Red One, is about as simple as it is uneven. Simple is good for a holiday picture as it is typically aimed at children, however this felt like there were two movies being made. On one hand, there is extremely sweet, innocent beats that is a prerequisite for Christmas, but then it was mashed together with a vulgar, adulterated take similar to the wonderful Violent Night from 2022.
The biggest positive is in its creativity hiding behind all the borrowed ideas (of which there may literally be tons and that is just from the MCU). The writing creates an immense world that I hope we get to experience in other projects that have a clearer focus. A Kristofer Hivju led Krampus movie? Yes please! Red One struggled with the flow and editing of the film. As the narrative got too interesting (?!?), it would suddenly and repeatedly bog itself down in exposition in front of a green screen for reasons I cannot comprehend.
Ok, ok. Enough of my grinch-like takes on the film. I want to be clear that I enjoyed the movie. Johnson is still the best “big brother” actor working today. When he has a role like this, he excels because he does not have to stretch much. He is a massive, kind-hearted guy that comes across as a likable hero in almost every setting. Chris Evans might somehow still be underrated as an actor and continues to be must watch regardless of the picture’s quality. The least surprising was how J.K. Simmons commanded the screen and devoured any moment he was in the picture. An impressive feat since I was hesitant on the character’s whole Zaddy Claus vibe.
While Red One does not reach the levels of quality that have come with adult-friendly Christmas movies over the last few years, it is definitely worth a watch as a purely “popcorn movie” where you can tune in, turn off the brain, and enjoy the ride. I know I definitely will once the egg nog gets flowing and want something to just embrace the season. Pair it with episode 2.4 of Ted Lasso for just the right balance of Christmas, hope, and positive messaging.
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