Red One is a 2024 holiday adventure film distributed by MGM and Seven Bucks Productions, directed by Jake Kasdan, and starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Chris Evans, JK Simmons, and Lucy Lui. There’s something that just feels special about watching a horror movie in theaters in October or a Christmas movie in theaters in December, something I was fortunate enough to do both of this year, so this movie probably earns a few bonus points for just that but I’m not going to let it affect my critical analysis much if I can help it. That being said, I think this is a holiday film that will likely have a good shelf life and people will continue to watch for holiday seasons in the future, if nothing else just for the star power and fun, simple story alone. Speaking of a simple story though, let me try to break this down for ya quickly. After Santa is kidnapped by an evil witch intent on destroying Christmas and making the naughty pay for their actions, it’s up to North Pole’s head of security and the dark web’s best tracker who unintentionally caused all this to happen in the first place to track down Santa, stop the evil witch, and save Christmas before it’s too late. Hijinks and action ensue and we’re introduced to multiple classic holiday characters along the journey like evil snowmen, talking polar bears, Santa’s brother Krampus, and more.
Like I said, this movie was a good time as it definitely had the holiday vibes I’m looking for this time of year and mixed in your classic Christmas troupes with intense action sequences and funny Rock and Chris Evans banter rather well. That being said, this isn’t like a holiday favorite of mine now by any means or one that I’d sing the praises of too highly. It’s worth the watch during the season for sure and I’m sure it will continue to live on for holiday seasons to come as I said (that’s the best thing about making a Christmas movie for these studios. Even if it’s just good it’ll likely live on and continue to get watched year after year as long as there’s at least one notable actor or actress and/or a good enough story). I felt like maybe the run time was a little long for what the story was potentially, something. It just seemed to drag on for me at certain moments throughout the film, but that wasn’t consistent enough by any means for me to say this was a slow or boring movie. It was certainly fast paced with lots of action dispersed throughout it so there’s a little something for everyone. Say the lady and kid wants a holiday movie, but the man isn’t into holiday movies *cough, cough* damn Scrooge, or whatever the case or situation may be, then this is likely one the whole family can agree on as there’s enough action and funny moments to keep even the Grinchy family members entertained as well. But to me it just felt a little…I don’t know, generic? It was like the Christmas version of your typical souped up “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson action flick” complete with the big budget and all. Not saying that a majority of audiences won’t be entertained by something like that, just saying it didn’t do much to make it an all-time classic or something even particularly special.
Now, Krampus and his little part in this movie was awesome I thought, but that could be partially because I’m also a horror fan and like Krampus as well. JK Simmons was great as always and he made for a pretty good Santa, reprising his role as The Man in Red for the second time but the first time in live action. He also voiced him in ‘Klaus’, that animated Netflix movie a few years back. Honestly, I just watched that one as well and I gotta say, I think it’s a better Christmas movie than this. At least a more original one. I’m sure by now I sound like I’m just bashing this movie and that’s not necessarily how I want to come off. I just like Christmas movies and I feel like if you’re to release a big budget Christmas movie no less and promote it the way it was it better be good or original or do something to kind of stand out. That’s the same reason I don’t like Hallmark Christmas movies at all, they’re all generic and feel the same and have nothing new to say or do. This was nothing like a Hallmark Christmas movie by any means, but similar in the aspect of all the big budget kind of action films released these days. Especially considering you had The Rock and Chris Evans in here. Now to some people, I’m sure the way I described this film seems epic and that’s completely understandable. These kind of action movies bring in massive audiences pretty much always and tie a Christmas ribbon on top and make it something you can bring the whole family to and it’s almost certainly going to be a success to some extent. The theater was packed when I went and this movie has been out for weeks.
But, if you’re not necessarily a fan of those kinds of action star action movies to begin with, I would wait for it to come out on streaming services when it does and watch it then unless you just want to see a Christmas movie in theaters this December to get that vibe. There’s plenty of great modern and classic Christmas films already on streaming this year. I would still say watch it though because it’s a fun, action packed Holiday flick that’s worth the time of day in the season if nothing else.
