Red One Review: Spoils Both Christmas & Santa

RATING - ⭐ ⭐ 2/5*

RED ONE REVIEW MOVIE TALKIES –

Red One is a happy Christmas flick with no context. The idea becomes overly fictional, spoiling the basic elements of Christmas and Santa Claus. We all love Santa Claus, right? But would we like to see him get kidnapped by a witch? I guess not. Red One struggles with its basic premise and then with the execution. The humor and comical characters do not align with the main context, which is quite serious if you think about it. Apparently, the villain has a stronger point of view than the hero, as she wants to punish all the naughty people, which isn't necessarily wrong, logically. However, her terms are too brutal and do not fit with a normal human being. The film features misjudged pairs along with baseless theories, making for a tedious Christmas watch. I would prefer a film full of goodwill and emotion for Christmas, and this film lacks that.

M.O.R.A (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) is a clandestine, multilateral military organization that oversees and protects a secret peace treaty between mythological creatures and humanity. Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) is the commander of ELF and head of Santa Claus' (J.K. Simmons) security, but he wants to retire after "one last ride." On Christmas Eve, Witch Gryla (Kiernan Shipka) kidnaps him to make the world a nicer place by punishing all the naughty people. Drift and legendary hacker Jack (Chris Evans) must find the witch's location and "save Christmas."

Hiram Garcia's script doesn't allow you to think logically, as the world we see is entirely fictional and filled with fantasy elements. It appears absurd at times, disrupting the natural flow of watching a Christmas flick. Chris Morgan's screenplay is paced well, thankfully, but it is highly predictable. Things feel rushed and hurried at the climax, lacking proper brainstorming, and the screenplay also lacks a unique selling point. Nonetheless, this is still fairly decent writing, but the execution is hasty and bland.

Dwayne Johnson hardly puts any effort into the role, as all he has to do is punch those creatures and report crimes. Chris Evans was seen having fun, and it was a decent performance from him. I am shocked to see an actor like J.K. Simmons being wasted like this. He is Santa Claus, and I expected him to be cheerful, but I didn't see that brightness on his face, nor did I hear any such conversation from him. Lucy Liu hardly has any scenes to showcase her talent, while Kiernan Shipka's role was short but quite good. Bonnie Hunt, Reinaldo Faberlle, Nick Kroll, Kristofer Hivju, Wesley Kimmel, Marc Evan Jackson, and others were strictly okay.

Red One is better in technical aspects because of its advanced fight sequences and visually pleasing lighting moments that I believe children will love. The background score is decent, and the sound design is average. The art design should have been better for a fantasy film based on Christmas, but this one is too dark. Since the film has flopped at the box office, you know what kind of product it is. It might provide a better experience due to the Christmas theme, as the festival is just around the corner, but not for discerning movie buffs. Jake Kasdan's direction is poor, but definitely not terrible. Red One has that overly technical touch and dark theme that spoils the Christmas vibes. It's not a good film overall, so it's better to skip it this Christmas and watch "It's Wonderful Life" again.