RED ONE (2024)

Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Jake Kasdan
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, Nick Kroll, Wesley Kimmel, J.K. Simmons
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: https://www.redonemovie.com.sg

Opening Day: 7 November 2024

Synopsis: After Santa Claus – Code Name: Red One – is kidnapped, the North Pole's Head of Security (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter (Chris Evans) in a globe- trotting, action-packed mission to save Christmas.

Movie Review:

It may still be a couple of weeks out before Christmas, but here we are with Amazon/MGM’s US$250 million attempt to create a franchise out of Santa Claus and everything else associated with him. Indeed, this is clearly a world-building play, birthed out of Dwayne Johnson’s business partner Hiram Garcia (who is president of production at Johnson’s Seven Bucks Production), and brought to life through Johnson’s franchise veterans Jake Kasdan (whom Johnson obviously thought was a lucky charm rebooting the ‘Jumanji’ franchise) and Chris Morgan (who had written the ‘Fast and Furious’ movies Johnson starred in, as well as the ‘Hobbs versus Shaw’ spinoff).

Despite what naysayers have said, ‘Red One’ is a perfectly watchable holiday movie, although we suspect hardly good enough to birth a franchise as it was intended to. Somewhat disappointingly, it has Johnson playing a strait-laced role in Callum Drift, the head of Santa’s security detail called E.L.F. (which stands for Enforcement, Logistics and Fortification) or basically the North Pole’s answer to the Secret Service. Callum has just tendered his resignation to Santa (J.K. Simmons) when the latter is kidnapped from right inside his residence within the domed, futuristic super-city under cloak of an iron dome at the North Pole.

As Callum explains to Nick, the reason he is resigning after centuries on the job is that he has lost his faith in grown-ups; still, Callum has nothing but respect for Nick, and jumps straight into action on an eventful chase across the North Pole to try to stop the kidnappers from getting away with Nick and when that fails, leading the mission outside their arctic base to rescue Nick. Not surprisingly, Nick is forced to team up with the very sort of person that has caused his crisis of faith, in the form of degenerate sports gambler and derelect divorced dad Jack O’ Malley (Chris Evans).

It was Jack who had hacked the International Seismic Surveillance System and gave the coordinates of an entry point into the city to Nick’s kidnappers, though in his defence, Jack had never believed in Santa even from when he was a tubby young boy (as a somewhat pointless opening scene informs us). Their team-up lets screenwriter Morgan exercise the sort of buddy-cop dynamic which he is most familiar with, and therefore the chance for Johnson and Evans to bicker and banter their way through the various set-pieces; and truth be told, both actors know what they are doing, what is expected of them, and deliver nothing less and little more.

Still, both veterans bring enough comic energy to make the trek from Philadelphia to Aruba to Bavaria to the Arctic sufficiently pleasing, aided by copious amounts of CGI to realise the re-imagining of a whole bunch of mythological creatures, including some violent snowmen that do not quite melt down even on a sunny beach, the giant goat-man troll Krampus (Kristofer Hivuju) from German Yuletide folklore who here also happens to be Nick’s estranged brother, and the Icelandic legend Christmas Witch (Kiernan Shipka) who is transformed here into a 900-year-old shapeshifter. It is an extremely busy two-and-a-quarter hours, which is probably why other supporting characters like Lucy Liu’s director of the M.O.R.A. (or Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) and Bonnie Hunt’s Mrs Claus are relegated to thankless, one-note parts.

There are some fun moments in between the frenzied mayhem – Callum’s fight with the snowmen sees him display an Ant Man-like fighting ability that is pretty amusing; the globetrotting chase sees Callum turn Hot Wheels cars into actual vehicles not once but twice; and the Black Forest where Krampus makes his abode in a gloomy German castle guarded by hellhounds is intriguing. Like we said, this is a world-building exercise, and any one of the above is ripe for spin-off opportunity; that said, it is surprising that the practical sets and locations don’t look better than they do, especially considering the gargantuan budget of the movie.

In the end, there is nothing in particular that feels inspired: Johnson and Evans are likeable in their respective roles, and their dynamic feels familiar but not fresh; the supporting characters are good for a laugh, but do not quite gather enough depth to make a lasting impression; and though the manufactured poignancy does tug at your heartstrings at the end, it hardly feels authentic. For these reasons, ‘Red One’ ultimately feels like a missed opportunity to deliver genuine Yuletide cheer alongside big-budget spectacle. Even though it doesn’t deserve to be on the ‘naughty’ list, it doesn’t quite justify being on anyone’s ‘nice’ list, falling instead into a long list of middling list of Christmas movies that are watchable but ultimately forgettable.

Movie Rating:

(It ain't a blockbuster lump of coal, but this franchise-starter lacks genuine inspiration amidst its frenzied mayhem, and ends up being watchable but ultimately forgettable) 

Review by Gabriel Chong