Red One Review

Red One attempts to make a Christmas movie into a generic action-comedy from some of the minds behind the Jumanji sequels and The Fast and the Furious franchise.

Christmas is approaching and the North Pole is getting ready for the big mission. Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) is the head of security at the North Pole and Santa Claus’ (J.K. Simmons) personal bodyguard. When Santa Claus is abducted 24 hours before Christmas, Callum is tasked to find the big guy, but he has to work with Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), a hacker and a level four naughty lister.

In theory, Red One should be a hit. It’s a seasonal film which would give it some longevity, starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, directed by Jake Kasdan, best known for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level, and scripted by Chris Morgan who has written five of The Fast and the Furious films. Johnson was able to produce hit after hit during the 2010s and he was a massive action star in a rising tide of franchise films. It probably would have been massive if Red One had been released between 2015 and 2019.

Sadly for The Rock his fame has waned. His 2020s haven’t been as successful, like Jungle Cruise and Black Adam. Johnson’s reputation has taken a hit since The Wrap reported that the actor refused to work a full day and acted unprofessionally on set which inflated Red One’s budget by $50 million. Johnson has refuted the claims. Red One had a reported budget of $250 million which was on the high side, even for a tentpole film and when watching it there were thoughts about where was the money spent. The CGI effects were at best passable and most of the action took place in dark and murky areas. The best aspect of the film was the make-up effects for Krampus and his minions since they gave the film some physicality.

Red One is a great example of what’s wrong with Hollywood right now since it was an assembly-line film made with an inflated budget. It’s the worst of both worlds since it was creatively bankrupt and late and over budget. Johnson has a reputation for playing the same character all the time, and Evans has been seen as the poster boy for uninspired streaming action fare, i.e. The Gray Man and Ghosted. It was a film where most of the cast were phoning it in, and Nick Knoll’s mission seemed to be irritating the audience. Some moments that were genuinely funny like Cal having an ability like one of the Avengers, but these were few and far between.

Red One was a film that felt like everyone but the make-up team was coasting. The actors were going through the motions, leading to uninteresting performances, and most of the crew weren’t testing themselves. It appeared as if everyone involved just wanted to get the filming done.

Red One has been released surprisingly early for a Christmas film. In the UK it has come out on the same as Paddington in Peru which will be a big hit on those islands. It is set to be released on the 15^th November in the USA. It wouldn’t be surprising if Red One flops at the box office and will be released quickly on Amazon Prime just before Christmas.

Red One was an assembly line film that was at best functional, but it was uninspired in nearly every field. It will be quickly forgotten like a pair of socks given as a Christmas present.