The very definition of high concept, Red One has a big cast, big action and big special effects. Like the time I once attended a friend’s extravagant wedding and reception with hundreds of other guests, the main thing that kept crossing my mind while watching the film was, This must have been expensive.
I don’t typically concern myself with how much a movie costs, but sometimes its impact on the creative process is obvious. Red One is chock full of visual and narrative elements lifted from from other high concept action and holiday-themed movies, cynically assembled to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Hence, the film plays things so safe that you’ll be able to forecast the outcome of nearly every scene.
That’s not to say Red One isn’t enjoyable. While unlikely to become a perennial holiday classic, it’s kind of fun at times, largely due to admittedly impressive production design and agreeable performances by its two stars, Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, neither of whom are required to stretch themselves much. And for some viewers, there might even be something reassuring about its undemanding narrative and utter predictability.
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| Krampus...feelin' horny. |
The entire story is built around a premise that was probably conceived on a cocktail napkin. Santa (J.K. Simmons) has been kidnapped and its up to his head security chief, Callum Drift (Johnson), to find & rescue him. He and the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority (MORA) force freelance hacker/slacker Jack O’Malley (Evans), who sold the info of Santa’s location in the first place, to assist them. It turns out he was abducted by Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), a Christmas witch with plans to use his powers to punish everyone who’s ever been on the Naughty List (which essentially means the entire population).
Red One liberally incorporates familiar tropes found in both modern action flicks and family-oriented holiday movies, while occasionally dipping into traditional lore (good ol’ Krampus is an amusing highlight). The action sequences are heavily CGI-driven, as is much of the production design and plethora of non-human secondary characters, but often imaginatively rendered. Storywise, the overall emphasis is largely on comedy and, of course, the same kind of epiphanies characters experience in every Christmas movie since people started making them.
As such, I’ve certainly seen plenty of worse Christmas movies, which might be faint praise for one with a $200 million price tag. Completely bereft of narrative surprises, you'll see every plot turn coming from a mile away. But it's slickly made and kind of enjoyable in the moment, which is probably all some people want for their holiday entertainment.
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