150 Word Review: 'Red One' (2024)
Santa's Workshop Has Fallen
The central conceit of Amazon MGM Studios' loud and expensive Christmas-themed action movie Red One is that Santa Claus is not unlike a powerful CEO who needs a security detail.
Saint Nick's main bodyguard is played by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who oversees a secret Santa service comprised of humans and mythological creatures. Johnson's Xmas bruiser has grown disillusioned by humanity's increasingly naughty behaviors and retires the same night the big guy gets kidnapped. Enter Chris Evans, a hacker who helped a Black Ops team snatch Kris Kringle. Is he a bad guy? Not on the inside. He and The Rock team up and fight killer snowmen, shapeshifters, and a giant goat-man for over two excruciating hours.
The CGI is uneven and omnipresent. Evans is funny as a rapscallion, and The Rock is a sufficient straight man. JK Simmons' Claus is swole but sweet. Red One is a corporate carol.