Red One

The start of November these days is pretty much the start of Christmas and we've got two new Christmas movies in theaters (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is now In theaters). I caught an early access screening for Red One this weekend... Coming from Amazon MGM Studios with a whopping $250 Million budget, Red One stars Dwane Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, Kieran Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, J.K. Simmons, and more. Johnson was apparently paid $50 million, making him the best-paid actor to date. Santa Claus (Simmons), code-named Red One, is preparing for Christmas. While out visiting shopping malls with Drift (Johnson), his head of security, Jack O'Malley (Evans), a solo hacker has unknowingly sold off the coordinates to the North Pole. Red One is kidnapped and it is now up to Drift to uncover the kidnapper and rescue Santa Claus to save Christmas. The simple concept of this movie quickly unravels as you enter the North Pole. This movie is much more of a re-creation of a Marvel Avenger-style movie, from the physical appearances to the CGI effects to the storyline. The majority of this movie is spent with Drift and O'Malley as they try to determine who the buyer is. The movie flows similarly to standard action films and even most video games. As they navigate from person to person they'll be tasked with fighting off a series of "bad guys" if you will. All are Christmas-themed, of course, from snowmen to Krampus. The action scenes, while fun, are very hit-and-miss when it comes to the CGI. It's hard not to see that the majority of this is green-screened. There are a few cool-looking moments but it makes you wish that everything would have looked as cool with such a massive budget. I did find the use of the toy shops to navigate around the globe to be very clever. Even the "reality effect" on toys was great, and I wanted more of that.

Speaking of action, Simmon's take on Santa Claus left me wondering how he couldn't take on these kidnappers himself. We see him early In the movie finishing 500 pushups and benching hundreds of pounds without breaking a sweat. There is also some resizing technology (think Ant-Man) that is used that would have made it so easy for him to get away. There is something there I didn't buy and wished they showed more of.

The actors were playing up to these roles, but the script was pretty weak and much of the dialog occurs while everyone is standing still in between the action moments. Not many of the jokes landed and it ever so slightly pulls at your heartstrings near the end.

I can see the casual movie watcher enjoying this one. It gets you into the holiday spirit and offers some entertainment but with such a large budget and a well-known cast, I felt so much was left underutilized and left me wanting for more.

Red One officially hits theaters on November 15.

Rating: 1.5/5