The Stream: Lack comedy and bad cinematography make it kind of a slog.

The Big Screen: Great production design and world-building for Santa Claus in 2024.

The Final Bill: Red One struggles to bring the Christmas Spirt with a bland and unfunny script.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Jake Kasdan
Writers: Chris Morgan ; story by Hiram Garcia
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, J.K. Simmons, Kiernan Shipka
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Holiday
Rating: PG-13 for action, some violence, and language.
Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes
Production Companies: Amazon MGM Studios, Seven Bucks Productions, Chris Morgan Productions, Detective Agency, Big Indie Pictures
Platform: In theaters November 15, 2024
Notable Trailers: Love Hurts, The Fire Inside, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Happy Holidays, Streamers! Is it too early to say that? Well, get prepared for the onslaught of Holiday-themed movies. Red One is one Christmas movie with a big budget, tailor-made for the big screen, but is it worth your Christmas cash? Here’s what’s up with the Grinch who stole Santa Claus.

In Red One, when Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) is kidnapped on Christmas Eve, Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), Santa’s trusted but disillusioned head of security, joins forces with a disaffected hacker, Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) to locate and rescue Santa in time to save Christmas. Callum is disillusioned and wants to retire because it seems that Santa’s Naughty List keeps growing and bad behavior runs rampant in the world. Jack is a Santa Claus denier and a troubled father, who has taken the easy way out of everything since he was young. Callum and Jack go on a journey encountering magical creatures and rediscovering the magic of Christmas. Slap-bets and Christmas-magic hijinks ensue.

Red One is a buddy action-comedy that suffers from a lack of comedy. Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans are two likeable actors, but their ability to infuse charm into these flat characters is hindered by the lackluster writing. There are very few, if any, laugh out loud moments. The Rock plays Callum very straight with a scowl or perplexed look for most of the movie. I wish he had found some way to add dynamics to his character. Chris Evans’ character is the complete opposite, but he’s just very unlikeable with a punchable face. It’s all very bland, blah and ridiculous.

There is potential here. With a budget this big, the movie had better be a spectacle worthy of the big screen. It hits that mark. There are a lot of visual effects. They don’t all look good, but for the most part, the visual effects are utilized appropriately. There are interesting and modern ideas about the North Pole, Santa’s workshop, his security team and a lot of other mythical creatures. The world-building is pretty impressive, and I could see a sequel being made. The cinematography is not great because the movie is dark and muddy for a cheery Christmas movie. That was a bummer. The other craft elements transport the audience and evoke the Christmas Spirit.

Nevertheless, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Overall, Red One is pretty meh to me.

Ultimately, Red One has a decent premise, but it fails to bring the laughs to this action comedy. Johnson and Evans should be an aspirational comedy duo, but their characters lack any real spark. The production design, visual effects and world-building are good even if the cinematography isn’t great. While the story is ridiculous and annoying, the movie brings the Christmas Spirit enough to put a smile on your face. As the movie is pretty “meh” overall, this is probably good enough to have on in the background once it’s on streaming. Just a handful of popcorn for the movie theaters.