JP Nunez
I’m always up for a good Christmas movie. Whether it’s a straight up horror film like Black Christmas, a family-friendly adventure like The Nightmare Before Christmas, or a classic comedy like A Christmas Story, I just love movies that focus on the most wonderful time of the year. When I first heard about Red One, I was instantly intrigued. This film looked like a super fun blend of comedy, fantasy, and action played in a jolly Christmas key, and I couldn’t wait to check it out. I bought a ticket for opening night as soon as I got the chance, and despite the negative critical buzz, I was still super excited to see this movie for myself.
Directed by Jake Kasdan, Red One stars Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, J. K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, Kristofer Hivju, Wesley Kimmel, and Kiernan Shipka. In the film, North Pole’s head of security, a man named Callum Drift, is about to step down. He’ll stick with Santa (code-named Red One, hence the title) for one more Christmas, but after that, St. Nick is going to have to find someone else to fill the position.
However, just a day before Christmas Eve, Callum encounters a very serious problem. Someone breaks into the North Pole and kidnaps Santa, so the guy has to team up with Jack O’Malley, the best tracker in the world, to find Red One before it’s too late. The duo traverse the world and encounter numerous mythical creatures like Krampus and sentient snowmen, and along the way, they both recapture a bit of Christmas magic.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Red One is a great movie. It’s not, so if you’re looking for Oscar-level storytelling a la Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life, you’re not going to find it here. In fact, this film is a bit of a roller coaster ride (and not in a good way), but if you’re just looking to turn off your brain and have a bit of fun, I think you’re going to walk away with a smile on your face just like I did.
Let’s start with the two main characters. Callum Drift is played by Dwayne Johnson, and for most of the movie’s runtime, this guy is all business. His only goal in life seems to be keeping Santa safe, and since he’s a big, muscular man who can intimidate you with a single glance, he’s very good at it.
In contrast, Jack O’Malley, played by Chris Evans, is a slick, smart-mouthed thief and hacker who’ll lend his services to the highest bidder. He speaks with a vaguely New York accent that adds to his jerkish vibe, so he’s basically a PG-13 version of Evans’s Johnny Storm from the post-credits scene of Deadpool & Wolverine.
These two characters couldn’t be more different, and Red One plays both their individual personalities and their absurd mismatch for a number of gags. It’s a classic formula that many movies throughout cinematic history have used to great success, and it mostly works here as well. Sure, several of these jokes fall pretty flat, but enough made me audibly chuckle that I’d say the humor is a plus overall.
But it’s not the main draw. If you ask me, the real star of this show is the film’s unexpectedly great mythology and worldbuilding. Like I said before, Callum and Jack meet a number of famous mythical beings along their journey, and surprisingly, they don’t all come from Christmas lore. The main ones do, but we also get some cameos from famous non-Christmas entities as well as a number of unnamed creatures that just look really cool.
On top of all that, there’s also a worldwide organization called M.O.R.A. (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) that oversees all these fantastical characters. It’s like a more family-friendly version of the Initiative from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the mysterious operation in The Cabin in the Woods, and as a big fan of mashups and shared universes, I had a blast seeing these different mythologies come together under a single storytelling roof.
I was all in whenever this great worldbuilding came to the fore, but every time the film slowed down and began to narrow its focus to Callum and Jack, my interest would inevitably wane. Don’t get me wrong, I liked these characters, but they’re not quite strong enough to carry the movie all on their own. They work best when the film builds fun situations around them, so when they start to hog the spotlight, the story suffers.
That constant up and down gives Red One the roller coaster-like feel I mentioned earlier, so I often found myself going back and forth. Sometimes I really enjoyed the experience, but other times it was a bit of a drag. It took me a while to figure out what I thought about the movie as a whole, but at the end of the day, the good ended up outweighing the bad.
Granted, this film probably won’t make it onto my annual Christmas watchlist, and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever have much of a desire to see it again. But for a single watch, it definitely earns a thumbs up from me, so if this sounds like the kind of dumb holiday fun you’d enjoy, I recommend giving it a shot.
Red One is playing in theaters right now.
