Tis the season to be merry and watch holiday movies. New ones and old ones. I always fall back on a few Christmas films like It’s A Wonderful Life, White Christmas, and A Christmas Story during the holiday season, but I also look forward to seeing some new Classics I’ll remember for years to come. Red One won’t be considered an all-time classic Christmas movie, but it’s not terrible either.

Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) is the right-hand man of Saint Nick otherwise known as Santa Claus (JK Simmons) He protects his boss from all kinds of dangers that may befall him. From snobby moms and dads trying to get their last-minute holiday shopping done to kids who are on the naughty list because of bad behavior. While doing his workout, yes Santa works out, and prepping for the upcoming Christmas Eve trip around the globe to deliver presents for all the boys and girls, a group of men tear a hole in the dome and break into the North Pole where Nick’s home and base of operations is. They subsequently kidnap him for a witch, Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), in a nefarious plan to personally punish all the people including children on the naughty list. 

Besides the actors I’ve mentioned the film also has a good supporting cast that includes Lucy Lui who is in charge of a covert secret agency tasked with protecting all the mythical creatures on the planet. She helps Johnson’s character try and figure out what happened to Nick or as the title suggests “Red One” and get him back in time for his trip around the globe. Chris Evans plays an unscrupulous character named Jack O’Malley. A man who has a particular set of skills where he finds people for the highest bidder. In other words. Who pays him the most money? He has a son he’s not very close to and he’s not a fan of the Christmas holiday. He’s basically forced into helping Johnson’s character track his boss down.  Kristoffer Hivju is unrecognizable as Krampus, the estranged brother of Saint Nick. He doesn’t want any part of helping find his brother who he isn’t a fan of. They had a falling out many years before. He’s pretty funny, especially during a slapping game at a party in his castle. This cast had me laughing and enjoying their performances during this ridiculous concept of a movie quite a bit.

The concept of this film is quite far-fetched if I do say so myself. This story by Chris Morgan and Hiram Garcia professes that Santa Claus has existed for centuries and that he is like a world leader or president of the United States. There is a whole network of high-tech gadgets and technology that surround him and the world he exists in. That technology is rather impressive if I do say so myself. ELF (Enforcement Logistics Fortification) is the name of the secret organization Johnson’s character is the head of, with many winter creatures, such as a polar bear named Garcia and penguins, as part of his team. MORA (Mythological Oversight Restoration Authority). Is the organization Liu’s character runs. Between these two groups, the tech is used quite frequently even though a lot of it is CGI and depicted using visual effects. All of this gives the movie a bit of an unbelievable nature, but it’s fun to watch get used through the entirety of the film. You have to have a bit of suspension of disbelief to enjoy this movie which I did.

Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Production company is the producer of this Christmas movie. He infused a lot of the things he’s known for into the story. Fight scenes, witty banter, and some dis-believability of the story as a whole. It’s his charm, charisma, and chemistry with other actors in the films he works on that gets him through most of the movies he’s in. He has an inevitable ability to make people watching his films like him as an actor in whatever character he’s playing. He has a knack for that which is rare these days. The movie star is a thing of the past, but he and Tom Cruise can still sell tickets based on their names and reputation as bankable stars. This far-fetched Christmas movie will get butts in seats for that reason if not for the wanting of seeing a new holiday film during the Yuletide season. This definitely fits the bill.

Chris Evans came on the scene with roles in some rom-coms and eventually was cast as Steve Rogers/Captain America which launched his career into superstardom.  Ever since his many appearances as Steve Rogers/Captain America in the MCU, he’s been trying to distance himself from that role. Roles in Knives Out, and other films since then have proven this very evidently. His character in Red One is a prime example of this. He is a very unlikable person who does things you can get behind. From the time he was a kid and as an adult he’s nothing but a criminal who is greedy and only thinks of himself. Until he’s forced to think of his son and the rest of the world. He has a change of heart, but he plays the nasty person quite well. He’s getting some distance from his superhero persona. I’m glad he’s changing direction though. It shows he’s got range as an actor. He can always go back to the role that made him famous, Steve Rogers/Captain America.

Red One is a very far-fetched holiday film. It has some things involving technology and a spy/government agency feel to it that tries to make it seem much more realistic than other Christmas/Santa Claus films. The visual effects and CGI give the movie a futuristic nature. All the gadgets were pretty cool. The acting was fine by the all-star cast. They had a funny banter with each other that made what otherwise would be a paint-by-numbers holiday film watchable. I laughed at some of the exchanges between Johnson and Evans’s characters, and Krampus was better than he had any business being. This is a film that people will watch because parents will be looking for a Christmas movie to take the kids and inlaws to this holiday season. For that fact alone it’ll do fine at the box office. If you take your brain out of your head and put it to the side you may also enjoy this movie for what it is, Mindless holiday fare. 

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen