Surprisingly fun with plenty of action
Summary
Red One had no right to be as enjoyable as it was and it really got me into the festive mood early this year. Chris Evans arguably steals the show but he and Dwayne Johnsons make for an entertaining duo and there are some great action scenes, so if this the start of a franchise then I’ll see you next Christmas!
Plot: When a villain kidnaps Santa Claus from the North Pole, an E.L.F. (Extremely Large and Formidable) operative joins forces with the world’s most accomplished tracker to find him and save Christmas.
Review: Red One wasn’t really on my radar and I was planning to wait until streaming, but it had an advanced screening today so I thought I would get into the festive spirit a little early and check it out.
I had low expectations going in, but I’d be lying if I said the film didn’t pull me in within the first 15 minutes. Chris Evans is very good at comedy and in this he plays a bit of a jerk who only cares about himself and is estranged from his son. I liked their relationship as the son could so easily have been the annoying, obnoxious teen we get in so many movies, but he’s actually a good kid who just wants his dad to be around more.
The film has surprising heart and impressive visuals, but even more surprising is that there are several fight scenes as well as some chases and imaginative ideas. It isn’t afraid to be weird with some moments more for adults than kids. J.K. Simmons is a great Santa although it is a small role and I wish he was in it more.
I was talking with one of my friends the other day and we were saying how Dwayne Johnson tends to just play the same character in every movie and Red One is no different, however, he is always charismatic and is immediately likeable in this. I love how he and Lucy Liu play it all completely straight faced despite most of it being utter nonsense.
The music score by Henry Jackman was suitably epic and worked really well for the big set-pieces.
I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I did; I am admittedly a sucker for Christmas movies and when you add some action scenes then I’m sold. The script was mostly sharp with some nice one-liners and there’s enough silliness for the kiddies while also having a nice message too about how every day we make a choice to be good or bad.
Overall, Red One was far more entertaining than I was expecting with the cast at the top of their game; a witty script, several fight scenes and enough imaginative ideas that this will be a movie I’ll be coming back to every Christmas.