Star Cast: Chris Evans, Dwayne Johnson, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, and J.K. Simmons
Director: Jake Kasdan
What’s Good: Having J.K. Simmons as an incredible version of Santa Claus feels just right, and the message of union and love fits the holidays even if this point overplays it.
What’s Bad: The film simultaneously tries to be an action movie, a comedy, a fantasy film, and a family film, but the execution makes everything look fake and uninteresting.
Loo Break: For a considerable chunk of the second act, the characters are just running about without anything meaningful happening to them, so there is a chance to go to the bathroom right there.
Watch or Not?: Only watch if you are a massive Chris Evans or Dwayne Johnson fan; other than that, there are better Christmas movies out there.
Language: English (with subtitles).
Available On: Theaters, Apple TV+
Runtime: 124 Minutes
User Rating:
Christmas is here, and with it, a whole new wave of Christmas content will grace our screens, including Red One, a new film produced by Dwayne Johnson and directed by his Jumanji partner Jake Kasdan. This film goes out of its way to be as big as possible. Still, it loses itself into a half-baked fantasy universe while also trying to be a family film that plays out every Christmas cliche in the book, making the experience quite frustrating.
Red One Movie Review: Script Analysis
Red One is one of those movies that doesn’t feel real, not because the film is so magnificent that it feels like a miracle that it exists, but because there is so little about it that feels authentic instead of a product with actual meaning and intent behind it. However, this has been the Dwayne Johnson formula for a while. It has undoubtedly helped him create a business empire, even if it is a little shaky at the moment, and so this is a new intent by Dwayne to catch people’s attention this holiday season.
The problem is that while Red One is undoubtedly a big movie, it also feels entirely fake, as everything in it has gone through some marketing study. They forgot to tell everyone involved in the film that they should, at least, try to make it more genuine. The script tries to find space for every single Christmas cliche in the book and also tries to create characters that feel too serious for a movie that also tries to be a comedy.
The writing feels too mechanical, with jokes that barely register and character arcs that feel too much like cookie-cutter, creating a disconnection between every film element. Red One is a movie, but it feels more like it was done checking boxes than trying to tell a story that evolves organically into what the creatives wanted.
The film moves from set piece to set piece in a world-throating adventure that feels entirely made inside a movie studio, enhancing the fakeness of the film in every single shot. When you realize that the movie budget is reported to be $250 million, it becomes a bit unbelievable that all that money was wasted on something like this, as there is no soul to it, even when every single person from behind and in front of the screen is trying to be as professional as possible.
Red One Movie Review: Star Performance
While the script had potential but didn’t execute it, the casting might be the best thing about the film, especially for Chris Evans, who lately hasn’t managed to tap his potential outside of the Marvel films. Evans became a fan favorite with his nuanced and engaging performance as Captain America, but there has been nothing to display his acting prowess outside of that.
Red One doesn’t do Chris Evans when it comes to his bad decisions in picking projects lately, but the film takes advantage of his great timing for humor, and the actor keeps things afloat for most of it. He is the story’s protagonist, so we focus most on him. On the other hand, Dwayne Johnson delivers the expected Dwayne Johnson performances, and it isn’t bad or good; it is just there, and well, for those who like him, it will be fine.
Red One Movie Review: Direction, Music
The film feels all over the place regarding its technical accomplishments, although the production values are impressive in some scenes. In contrast, in others, you can almost touch the green screen behind the characters, making all those scenes a big issue in terms of consistency: without it, there are many moments where the movie will break the immersion and send you on a tangent from which it is tough to come back.
Kasdan isn’t particularly technical or artsy regarding the composition of the shots or the way characters and concepts are introduced in the movie, which creates the sensation that this is a TV movie or a costly streaming series. There is nothing wrong with that, but a film should be more careful about these decisions because the audience feels it quite a bit when there is no intent behind the choices.
Red One Movie Review: The Last Word
Red One is one massive blockbuster that will be forgotten soon after this holiday. While everyone involved is as professional as possible, there is just no soul behind the project. So even when the movie can be entertaining, there is nothing to remember after the credits roll.
Red One Trailer
Red One releases on Prime Video on 12 December, 2024.
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