Santa Claus In Danger? Review Of Red One (2024)

If there's a holiday film I'd recommend for its thrills and adventure, it's this one starring calibre actors like Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, J. K. Simmons and Lucy Liu. The plot is nothing complicated—a battle to save Christmas and restore faith in humanity by exposing the ‘good’ in the naughty listers.

But who would dare to kidnap Red the day before Christmas Eve? If you're a curious one, then you should see this movie.

Review

No doubt, the A-list stars in this film will always get the audience's attention any day. Many people love to see Dwayne Johnson in action. Even more is the intense plot with high stakes that keeps you on the edge from start to finish if you are an action movie fan. I enjoyed this film and would argue that it stands out when compared to this year's holiday releases.

The creative twist on the lore surrounding Christmas was superbly executed. Each scene is well paced and built around a captivating worldbuilding to deliver a convincing narrative to the audience. There's the white-bearded man in a red suit famously known as Santa Claus but called ‘Red’ in this film. (He's surprisingly lean and fit, unlike the fat and potbellied ones). Kudos to J. K. Simmons for embodying this role to a T.

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Red visits all children's homes on Christmas Eve and delivers gifts. North Pole takes this job seriously and puts him under the watchful eye of a tight, high-tech security at North Pole headed by Callum Drift (played by Dwayne Johnson). An expert hacker and bounty hunter, Jack O'Malley (played by Chris Evans) who is very cynical about Christmas unknowingly finds and sells North Pole's location!

Oh, there's also a mean Christmas witch called Gryla (don't say her name out loud—she can hear you from any part of the world) who's out for all those on the naughty list.

Another interesting twist—Krampus is Red's brother and for once, he's in support of Christmas! The highlight for me is when Callum and Jack visit Krampus' lair in search of Red. These and more make this film fresh and interesting, and a worthy watch for the holiday.

The cast's performances are excellent and immerses the audience in the film. It's good to see Lucy Liu in action too. I'll say she hasn't aged one bit. The action sequences are thrilling and the cinematography is vibrant. Though there are a couple of scenes where the CGI is too obvious, it's not so distracting.

The only part I'd fault with this movie is that Chris Evans’ performance as Jack O’Malley is a little dull and unimpressive. The character is humorous, cynical and does the weirdest thing like take candy from a toddler. Evans struggled to portray this character well.

Also, his chemistry with Dwayne Johnson is noticeably lacklustre. I think Ryan Reynolds would have played Jack O’Malley role better in my opinion and the humour would have increased the film's rating. Having seen Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds together in Red Notice and Hobbs & Shaw, they have a natural bromance that Chris Evans can't replicate.

Overall, Red One surpasses all the holiday movies I've seen this year (and believe me, I've seen some cheesy ones that I wouldn't watch on any other day but for the sake of the season). It's action-packed, adventurous, visually cool and festive enough to make it worth watching.

I'm puzzled by the criticisms this film has received. It's not made to be perfect but to deliver some fun and action in the season. So why not jump onto Santa's sleigh and enjoy the ride!

I'd rate this movie 3.5 stars out of 5. The target audience should be children and adults but somehow it's rated pg-13 for mild profanities in it. So I'll say, only teens and adults can see this.

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