I just watched the new Christmas action movie, Red One, by Warner Bros. My expectations were low coming into the movie because I have never been a fan of Dwayne Johnson, and failed to entertain me. This movie follows Santa Claus’s bodyguard (Dwayne Johnson) and the world’s best tracker (Chris Evans) as they embark on a mission to rescue Santa after he is kidnapped.
In Red One, the protagonist, Jack O’Maley (Chris Evans), helps an anonymous group find seismic activity in the Arctic, which secretly is the North Pole. This group abducts Santa Claus (J. K. Simmons) to steal his power and hurt any one who has done anything immoral. Santa’s bodyguard and closest friend Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) is set on finding Santa within 24 hours to save Christmas. By teleporting through mystical portals in the utility closet of toy stores, Drift and O’Maley find themselves all over the world to fight evil snowmen, and slap fighting Santa’s brother, Krampus, they try to find the hideous ogress who has kidnapped Santa.
Chris Evans, who plays Jack O’Maley, does a good job in his part where he is an often absent father of one, and the world’s best tracker who has committed several things that are considered naughty, and most important of all, a non believer of Santa. Dwayne Johnson plays Callum Drift and does a mediocre job even though it is a very easy part to play as a body guard who devotes his entire life to serving Santa Claus. Kiernan Shipka is the main antagonist, and the leader of the group who kidnaps Santa. Shipka is neither good nor bad because I could tell that she was a very evil person, but her acting was very robotic.
The cinematography in this movie was amazing, especially when Santa would ride his sleigh. The reindeers’ horns are illuminated and they walk on the Northern Lights. This movie needed a lot of special effects because they deal with so many mythical creatures, so I was very happy with the way that they turned out in the film.
Most of the outcomes of this movie were very predictable. I knew from the very beginning where Santa was being held captive, I knew that Krampus was not going to know where his brother was, and finally I knew who was a shapeshifter and who wasn’t because whoever was a shapeshifter acted poorly. It seemed to me that everything that was going to happen in the end was foreshadowed in the first thirty minutes.
The message of the movie is to help others that are in need rather than to be selfish and only help myself. I think that others will easily pick up on the same moral, as they mentioned it many times throughout the movie.
Red One is rated PG-13 because of action, some violence, and language. Though the group who would most likely enjoy this movie would definitely be kids aged 8-12. Though there are many times where vulgar language is used, kids who still believe in Santa, or kids that enjoy action should watch this movie.
The plot overall, was out of control and it felt like there was a new setting every ten minutes, yet predictable. The special effects on this movie definitely enhanced this film, but it is not enough to carry it too far. I would rate this movie 2 out of 5 stars.
