Review: ‘Red One’ isn’t the next Christmas classic, but it is entertaining

If you can let go of your inner movie critic and give into the ridiculousness of “Red One,” you’ll leave the movie sufficiently entertained.
As much as it (probably) wants to be, “Red One” is not the next Christmas classic. It doesn’t summit the mount of Christmas classics inhabited “The Santa Claus,” “Elf” and “White Christmas,” but it still has something.
That something might be Chris Evans as the morally ambiguous protagonist, Jack O’Malley, who provides comedic relief between action sequence. Or, perhaps, that something is the movie’s unique take on Santa Claus.
In place of the archetypal jolly, red-nosed, jolly Santa, “Red One” presents J.K. Simmons as a cool, modern St. Nick, with the buff build of a man who probably counts his macros and does cross fit for fun.
Director Jake Kasdan said “one of the most exciting aspects of the movie” is its unconventional take on Santa.
“You’ve seen (Santa) in a certain way your whole life…what if you could sort of pull back the curtain and see what he’s really like?” Kasdan said in a press conference.
Behind that curtain is muscleman Santa (Simmons) in his tricked-out home gym, completing rounds of 500 pushups with ease. He works 364 days a year and burns 430 million calories in cookies and milk every Christmas Eve.
But in spite of his macho exterior and supernatural abilities, Santa requires protection from nefarious grinches across the globe.
His main man? Callum Drift (Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson), a 452-year-old ELF (Extremely Large and Formidable) who lets Santa know during an early scene that this Christmas will be his final mission. For the first time, there are more people on the naughty list than the nice one, and it’s killing Callum’s Christmas spirit.
Moments later, with two days until Christmas, Santa is kidnapped — throwing Callum into a retrieval mission that will be the toughest in his four-century career.
Enter Jack O’ Malley (Evans), a level-four naughty-lister and world renowned tracker who’s cold-hearted enough to take candy from a baby. Jack is seized by Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority (MORA), which is headed by Zoe (Lucy Liu), to aid Callum in tracking down Santa.
This is where the ridiculousness really takes off.
Jack and Callum embark on a action-heavy, sometimes funny (thanks to Evans), slightly-too-long mission to recoup Santa from Gryla (Kiernan Shipka) an evil witch who intends to punish everyone on the naughty list and therefore ruin Christmas.
“There’s such great Christmas folklore, not just the stories we all grew up with, but internationally,” Evans said in a press conference. “When you hear some of these creatures and stories and mythology, it almost begs for some sort of … action adventure movie.”
“Red One” introduces mythological creatures typically excluded from Christmas flicks and spins the textbook creatures on their heads. Snowmen are icy brutes, polar bears are fluent in English and walk on their hind legs and Krampus (Kristofer Hivju) is Santa’s diabolic adopted brother.
Like I said, ridiculous.
The movie is neatly wrapped up — in an overly-corny manner — with a sparkling Christmas message. It’s not a deep ending, but it fits well with the rest of the movie.
“(’Red One’) does a great job of tapping into the heart and humanity that that you’re supposed to feel during the holidays. That it is…goodwill towards men. It is about remembering priorities, and certainly, for the folks that are looking for forgiveness, offering them those second chances,” Evans said during a press conference.
Don’t go to “Red One” expecting to see the next Christmas classic. Some sequences will prompt eye rolls from adults, but kids will get a kick out of it. Lower your bar, and you’ll be delightfully entertained.
Does it feel cash-grabby? Sure. Is cliche? Sometimes. Cheesy? Definitely. But don’t let that stop you from indulging in the ridiculousness that is “Red One.”
“Red One” is rated PG-13 for “action, some violence and language,” per IMDB.
There is language sparsely scattered throughout the movie. During one scene, an F-bomb is bleeped out by an abrupt scene swap.
Violence and action are consistent though the movie, mostly in kicking, punching, slamming and minimal weapon use. The violence is not bloody. Some of the creatures shown in the movie (such as the snowman, which can been seen in the trailer) are a little frightening during action sequences.
Finally, “Red One” has no sex or nudity. There is a scene on the beach where woman are wearing scantily-clad bikinis and a handful of minor sexual innuendos.