Released on Nov. 15, “Red One” reunites the director of “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Jake Kasdan, with the most electrifying man in sports entertainment, Dwane Johnson, for an enjoyable holiday action flick. After Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) gets kidnaped by the evil witch, Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), his top elf, Callum Drift (Dwane Johnson) must team up with the notorious tracker, Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) to get him back. Against the ticking clock, Callum and Jack venture through the hidden holiday underworld in a desperate race to save Christmas. While “Red One” sets up a fascinating world filled with rich lore and characters, the film’s primary offerings are average at best.
When Santa is depicted in movies, he often exists alongside other fantastical characters such as Jack Frost, the Easter Bunny and Mother Nature. In “Red One,” however, Santa doesn’t live in a fun world of fairies and narwhals, but one of Lovecraftian demons, monsters and witches. Characters across folklore from Big Foot to Krampus to the Headless Horseman all exist in this universe and the audience is led to believe that Santa casually knows them. If the existence of these beings is not enough, tying all of these mythological legends together is a secret government organization not unlike “Monarch” from the “Godzilla” franchise.
Because of the uniqueness of the world, it adds a distinct flavor that is felt throughout the movie, which sets it apart from other holiday films. Santa having ties to a global government agency that keeps him hidden from the rest of the world is fascinating. Since a majority of the movie involves the dingy underbelly of the Christmas season, traditionally comforting iconography such as sleigh rides in Central Park or chestnuts roasting on an open fire are entirely absent. Instead, “Red One” takes viewers to Transylvania style castles, graveyards and the most depressing looking North Pole ever put to film. While this lack of familiarity in exchange for ghouls and goblins might not be a good addition to the Christmas genre, it is an inspired choice that makes “Red One” stand out amongst the rest.
Despite its shockingly good attempt at world building, visually, “Red One” is a mess. The most basic scenes of characters standing on a beach or driving in a car look unbelievably fake because the background is always blurry. On a budget of $250 million, there is no reason these landscape based shots could not have been filmed on a location instead of on a soundstage. Another issue with the look is how dark it is. Christmas movies are typically bright and happy, but for some reason, a majority of “Red One” takes place on the darkest and saddest nights ever. The North Pole is sequestered in an eternal night that makes it look straight out of “Blade Runner.” Because a lot of the film’s locations include gothic castles and secret or underground bases, the scenes are all dimly lit to fit the intense atmosphere the characters find themselves in. A likely reason for why the film is unusually dark is to hide the poor CGI.
While the CGI is not horrendous, it can be incredibly distracting. During action scenes, characters will turn into amalgamous, gray dummies. There is one effect in particular where someone will shrink down to one-third size and it looks so uncanny. Seeing a man as towering as Johnson become the size of a small toddler and start jumping around, climbing on people and doing flips as if he’s Spider-Man never looks right and can honestly take viewers out of the film.
As for the mixed aspects of the movie, the plot is fine. One of the main story lines is Callum no longer seeing the good in humanity and wanting to quit his job as an elf. While elves quitting their job or losing their faith in Christmas cheer isn’t exactly new territory, it would have been nice if Callum’s feelings on this topic were an actual part of the film instead of him simply mentioning them from time to time. The second plot thread is about Jack’s regret about being an absent dad. Again, this theme has been explored in countless holiday flicks, but Evans is an incredible dramatic actor, especially when playing a parental figure, so it is a shame that the script hardly gives him any emotional material to work with.
At the end of the day, if movie goers see the trailers and think “Red One” looks like a good time, this will be a fun start to the holiday season. But for everyone else, unfortunately, this film will be another forgettable holiday cash grab. 3/5
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Featured image photo by Frank Masi/Prime
