Normally, I would have seen Red One on opening weekend. That’s largely because I see most things on opening weekend. But my girlfriend doesn’t go out to the movies nearly as much as I do, and she wanted to see Red One, and I always make it a point to take her when she wants to see something. In this case, I think it’s because she’s a fan of Chris Evans because nothing else about the movie made it stand out in a way that would catch her attention. Anyway, we saw this on a Black Friday afternoon, and since we have a nice vacation coming up in two weeks, I really hope the guy sitting next to me who kept having those coughing fits wasn’t contageous.
Also, we’re seeing Wicked tomorrow, so I have that to look forward to as well.
It’s Christmas time, and Santa (JK Simmons) is gearing up for the big night with help from his massive support crew, including the security chief Cal Drift (Dwayne Johnson). But then the unthinkable happens: Santa is kidnapped by forces unknown! Between Cal’s people and the folks over at the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority, AKA MORA, as led by Lucy Liu’s Zoe Harlow, they should be able to find Nick, as he’s known, but they are on a deadline since Nick needs to do his appointed rounds in 24 hours or else Christmas may be canceled.
They do have a single lead, that being legendary hacker The Wolf (Evans). Real name Jack O’Malley, Jack has been a Santa-denier since childhood, but he’s an excellent tracker and can pull a good con when he needs to. The only thing is, Jack does things mostly anonymously, so he’s not sure who took Santa. It will take Cal and Jack’s working together, combining Jack’s skills with Cal’s own gifts and Christmas magic-based tech to find Santa, a trip that will include killer snowmen and a visit to Santa’s estranged brother Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), but they’ll need to hurry. The witch Gryla (Kiernan Shipka) has plans for Christmas, and Santa is just one piece of that puzzle.
Now, I said above my girlfriend is not a big-time moviegoer like I am, so I think it says something when she noted afterwards that Johnson seems to only be able to play one character, and she had fun with the movie. That is basically true. Most of the actors here don’t have a lot to work with, and the dramatic moments felt to me like they could have been taken from any number of family-friend movies. I won’t say the movie is bad or anything. It isn’t. The comedic moments actually largely work, or at least they made me smile. I was hoping for better since Johnson was working again with director Jake Kasdan because their Jumanji movies were a lot of fun, but Red One doesn’t quite raise itself to the same level.
I will say, though, that Evans has been doing a very good job finding roles that are as far removed from Captain America as he can and then doing a good job with the material he’s been given. Johnson’s acting may be one note for the most part, but Evans is a different story, and he may be the only member of the cast giving a performance that rises above the material, if only a little bit. Johnson can (and probably often does) do roles like this in his sleep. I’m always glad to see Simmons, who makes it look so effortless, but he’s not in the movie that much. And Shipka’s agent might want to make sure the former Sabrina the Teenage Witch isn’t getting typecast. But the bottom line is this is a basically harmless movie, good for two hours entertainment, and that’s perfectly fine for the holiday season when the lines for Wicked and maybe Moana 2 are just too darn long.
Grade: C+
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