The Rock is here to spread festive cheer!
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Red One reunites Dwayne Johnson with director Jake Kasdan (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level) for another family-friendly action adventure with a Christmas twist.
The film stars Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Nick Kroll, Kristofer Hivju, Wesley Kimmel, and J. K. Simmons.
In Red One, Santa Claus (Simmons) is kidnapped 24 hours before Christmas Eve. His head of security Callum Drift (Johnson) must race against time to find him before Christmas is ruined. With no lead on who the kidnappers may be, Callum is forced to team up with expert tracker and hacker Jack O’Malley (Evans) to find Santa and save Christmas. Together, they embark on a global journey that sees them teleporting through toy stores, fighting snowmen on a beach, and finding themselves in Krampus’ lair.
The film tries its hands at delivering an unconventional Christmas film but there’s only so much freshness they can bring to the mix. Sure, Simmons’ St. Nicholas works out and is not above being a mall Santa. He may join the ranks as an unorthodox Santa, but his lack of screentime robs us of the potential Father Christmas badassery that could’ve followed David Harbour’s savage Santa in Violent Night (2022).
And because every holiday film must have a Grinch-like character who hates or doesn’t believe in Christmas, Jack O’Malley is it. Evans continues his streak of portraying characters on the opposite spectrum of Captain America and while that may still be fun to watch, he’s more believable as an irresponsible manchild here than he is a father of a preteen. Johnson on the other hand does the same thing he does in all his films because we'll be damned if Red One isn’t so much of a holiday film than it is another Dwayne Johnson vehicle. Thankfully, the pair still make for an interesting duo to co-lead this action adventure for what it’s worth.
Turns out the culprit behind the kidnapping is none other than Gryla the Christmas Witch (played to perfection by Shipka). She’s a formidable antagonist with a Thanos-like agenda, planning to punish every naughty being on planet earth by trapping them in magical snowglobes. Shipka was an interesting but welcome choice to take on the role considering her company of relatively older castmates.
Game of Thrones’ Kristofer Hivju as Krampus is undeniably the best part of Red One, delivering some of the film’s best laughs and poignant moments. Unrecognisable under all the heavy prosthetics, Hivju does what he does best and delivers an otherwise terrifying demonic figure with absolute swagger and brutish charm that changes the game for how moviegoers will perceive the mythical creature. Perhaps it’s the film’s kid-friendly rating that calls for his version to be more palatable than its counterpart in the 2015 film but Hivju’s effortless take is enough to make us want a spin-off Krampus film next.
Is Red One like anything we’ve never seen before? Not quite because believe it or not, Santa as a militarian leader with high-tech advanced equipments has been done before. It might not be the strongest spark to kickstart the festive season but it still packs a hell of a punch if you’re looking for some action adventure on the big screen.
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