Red One

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, J.K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, Kristofer Hivju, Kiernan Shipka, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Nick Kroll

Director: Jake Kasdan

As Christmas Eve nears, Nick (Simmons) aka Red One receives the sad news that the his right-hand man, and Commander of the ELF, Callum Drift (Johnson) is retiring due to sadness over the recent growth of the Naughty List. When Nick is kidnapped by the Winter Witch Gryla (Shipka), Callum and Zoe (Liu) the head of M.O.R.A. (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) must turn to Level 4 naughty lister Jack O’Malley (Evans) to help find him. As it turns out, Jack was inadvertently responsible for giving Gryla the coordinates for Nick's location and so he might have clues as to where he is being held. As the clock ticks closer to Nick missing out on the all-important Christmas Eve, Callum and Jack’s mission takes them from Aruba to Germany in their race to save Christmas.

These kinds of movies always used to be such a good hit. And the Christmas holidays can be responsible for some classic films like The Santa Clause, Miracle on 34th Street and Die Hard. While there are some interesting ideas within this movie, I don’t see it joining the ranks of those other classic films.

The behind the scenes turmoil aside (look it up if you don’t know: it’s maybe more entertaining than the movie itself), it’s always a shame when there is a kernel of a good idea in a movie ultimately fails to capitalize on it. And admittedly, there are a few here like the idea of the real Santa posing as a mall Santa to stay in touch with what the kids want or the clandestine operation to keep Santa and his location a secret. Even names such as ELF and M.O.R.A. are dumb but at least they are attempts at creativity.

However once you move past these clever details, Director Jake Kasdan and team fail to make any on screen magic or keep the film entertaining. In fact, the majority of the movie is very dumb and relies on very shoddy special effects to go with its generic action scenes. The effects shouldn’t be this bad considering the price tag Amazon and MGM put on this wannabe blockbuster. The fact that Dwayne Johnson wanted this to be seen in IMAX and compared it to Oppenheimer is ridiculous considering how bad it looks. Many of the big action scenes also take place at night and it’s hard to really see what is going on.

In fact, the only time it comes close to being entertaining is the visit to Germany where we are introduced to Krampus. Kristofer Hivju, who is buried under admittedly impressive prosthetics, is the only one who seems to be having any fun or understand what kind of movie he is in.

The rest of the cast is just present. Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans can be likable actors in the right roles. Here they have zero chemistry and though it feels like Red One is attempting to start a franchise, I personally wouldn’t want to see any further adventures with these characters. Their banter feels forced and the jokes rarely land. Evans in particular is given a very unconvincing subplot where he reconnects with his estranged son that feels forced and unearned. Other reliable actors such as Bonnie Hunt and Lucy Liu are given absolutely nothing to do.

While it’s not the worst thing I’ve seen, this should have been a fun time at the movies and been a fun holiday blockbuster. Instead we are left with a dull franchise non-starter that tries to coast by on the likability of the actors playing the leads.

Grade: D