12 Reviews of Christmas - Red One (2024)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and the most wonderful time of year is back, which means it's time, once more, for 12 Reviews of Christmas. We've got twelve holiday specials to talk about, and twelve days to do it in. So, let's start off with a brand new movie: Red One.

       Released a month ago, Red One was produced by Amazon-MGM and Seven Bucks Productions, directed by Jake Kasdan, and stars Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, and J.K. Simmons as Santa Claus. 

       The movie tells the story of how, on a Christmas Eve night, black ops agents breach the North Pole and kidnap Santa Claus. This forces Callum Drift, who leads Santa's security detail and is preparing to retire due to the growth of Santa's naughty list, to locate a hacker named Jack O'Malley, who had evidently found the North Pole's secret location and sold it to an anonymous buyer. Drift, despite knowing that Jack is a notorious naughty lister, has to team up with Jack to find Santa and save Christmas. Their mission leads them to run afoul of such individuals as Grýla and Krampus, and I think I'll stop myself here, because I really don't wanna spoil too much of this movie. 

         So, the action and humor in Red One is pretty decent. It's definitely got a sense of timing and how to have fun with the concept of a Christmas action movie. One thing that really fascinated me in this movie is how the North Pole uses highly sophisticated technology, with a bit of magic involved, to run the present delivery operation as a well-oiled machine, as well as gadgets that can reshape a toy into something bigger and more functional, such as turning Hot Wheels into actual cars, or bringing to life a pair of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Also, Santa's sleigh and the eight reindeer are the biggest they've ever been in any movie related to Santa Claus.

        I also liked the way that the movie gets into a mix of Yuletide lore, such as having Grýla and her Yule Lads, who are of Icelandic mythology, as the central antagonists of the movie. The idea of a Winter Witch being the villain is pretty clever. But, the part I found most ironic is that Kiernan Shipka, who was really good in this movie as Grýla, last had to deal with both Grýla and the Yule Lads in the 2018 holiday special Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter's Tale. To see her go from playing Sabrina Spellman working to save her friends from Grýla and the Yule Lads to actually PLAYING Grýla in this movie is something of a full-circle moment. Kinda cool. 

        I also liked how the movie made Krampus the adopted brother of Santa Claus. Both the design of Krampus, and the performance by Kristofer Hivju as Krampus, were really good. Also, along with Krampus, there were a number of really fun and unique creature designs, from the elves to trolls to other unique creatures. I give a lot of props to the effects team for the unique designs. As for Santa himself, J.K. Simmons probably plays one of the more unique versions of Santa I've ever seen. To see a physically fit and extremely athletic Santa who uses the kind of things Ant-Man would use to deliver presents around the world is definitely something that we haven't seen yet. 

       But, there are a few things that kinda bring the movie down a smidge, and one of those things is the two leads. Don't get me wrong, on their own both Dwayne Johnson as Cal and Chris Evans as Jack work fine. Granted, the movie opens with making Jack look like the most UNLIKABLE jackass there is, but his big redemption arc throughout the movie saves his character. Conversely, the movie makes Cal TOO likeable, showing a genuine believer who's simply lost the sight, and just needs to regain it. Independently, these two work fine. BUT, it's when they're together on screen that their clash of personalities and the different acting styles of Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans that kinda causes me to be taken out of the movie a bit. At least, at first. But, it's when these two genuinely get going that they manage to pull it together in the end. The other thing that almost derails this movie is Grýla's while villain plot, which I won't go in to as to avoid massive spoilers. 

        Overall, was Red One a fun and entertaining holiday romp? Yes. Was it worth seeing in theaters? Not necessarily. But, it's available stream on Amazon as of now, so I do recommend checking it out. I'm going to give Red One a rating of 4.5/5. 

       Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and 12 Reviews of Christmas is just getting started. Join me tomorrow for my review of Jeff Dunham's Scrooged-Up Holiday Special.