Red One

Dwayne Johnson’s status as a Mega Movie Star is undeniable. The producer/star has seen countless blockbusters over his esteemed career, but recently his output has left much to be desired. His Netflix project Red Notice was an abysmal time-waster that represented everything wrong with big-budget filmmaking. His long-in-development Black Adam was a critical and commercial failure that no one really asked for. Johnson’s recent creative endeavors have grown increasingly more stale with each new film. His latest, a Christmas action adventure originally made for streaming, has been the subject of many articles and pieces regarding its ballooning budget and noticeable tardiness from Johnson, himself. While his latest isn’t some major disaster, it is another flavorless dud that fails to evoke much excitement.

Courtesy Amazon MGM Studios

Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) is the leader of E.L.F. (enforcement, logistics and fortification), the private secret service detail to Saint Nick (JK Simmons). Callum has recently informed Santa that he will be stepping down from his post as he no longer believes in the good of humanity, only seeing the naughty and not the nice. As Christmas nears, Santa is kidnapped by an evil Christmas Witch named Gryla (Kiernan Shipka) who plans to put an end to Christmas. Their only lead is from a hacker Jack (Chris Evans) who unknowingly hacks hardware with coordinates to the North Pole and sells it to Gryla. Callum and M.O.R.A. (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) director Zoe (Lucy Liu), capture Jack and force him to lead Callum to the location of his client and rescue Santa Claus before the night of Christmas Eve.

Director Jake Kasdan, director of the classic comedy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story who later worked with Johnson on the Jumanji reboots, has made largely solid studio comedies for nearly two decades now. His work on those Jumanji films have also proven that he can  handle large scale films full of stunts and action. However, Red One, which follows in the tradition of other recent Dwayne Johnson vehicles, Jungle Cruise, Red Notice and Black Adam, is an adventure-free slog caked in excessive murky digital effects. Red One is largely a vehicle for both Johnson and Chris Evans who share a Lethal Weapon-esque odd couple dynamic of two polar opposites forced to work together. Unfortunately, Johnson and Evans never have a semblance of on-screen chemistry which makes their extended back-and-forths feel long and uninspired. The jokes are never that funny and the half-assed attempts at fleshing out the film’s “heart” are obvious. Much of the film’s attempts at heart stem from Evans’ Grinch-like character; a down-on-his-luck hacker/gambling addict with no moral code who is also an absentee father to his teenage son, Dylan (Wesley Kimmel). Evans is fine in the role, but the non-existent chemistry with his co-lead and a script that fails to offer anything new does him no favors.

Courtesy Amazon MGM Studios

In lacking any genuine emotion, Red One instead relies on heavy CG and action to make up for any real thrills or Christmas spirit. Kasdan tries to make the film feel grand in scale, but it just feels bloated. Dark digital background surround the cast for large portions of the film despite a handful of lavish practical sets. An early snowmobile chase through the North Pole looks borderline incoherent. The lighting and color palette resembles that of a Christmas commercial. Even the few neat ideas that emerge aren’t nearly as cool as they should. There’s a fist fight between Johnson and Evans and evil snowmen who emerge from an underwater ice cream truck that feels weightless and devoid of any thrills. One major highlight takes place at the castle of Santa’s evil brother, Krampus (Kristofer Hivju, decked out in some strong prosthetics). A fun slap fight between Johnson and Krampus ensues and gives the film a momentary shot of life.

Chris Evans comes away with the closest thing towards an actual performance, but is undercut by a lackluster script. Dwayne Johnson’s Callum Drift is yet another stoic reflection of his famous persona. There’s an attempt at humanizing Callum by having him try to find the good in people despite overwhelming evidence that shows more and more people on the naughty list. However, Johnson plays him similarly to his best handful of performances. It’s among his laziest on-screen turns in a series of lazy performances. JK Simmons is a very good buff Santa, but after 20 minutes, he’s gone for most of the film. Kiernan Shipka is having a ball playing the film’s baddie, but the character is an afterthought and has little on-screen menace.

Courtesy Amazon MGM Studios

Red One never rises above competent mediocrity. Director Jake Kasdan knows how to pace a film like this and keeps the action moving at a swift enough speed, but for an overly familiar concept, the results feel convoluted. This is a film full of talented people on both ends of the camera, but the results come across as passionless and dull. In terms of heartfelt Christmas cheer, Red One makes Fred Claus look like It’s a Wonderful Life in comparison.

Red One is now playing in theaters.