Red One movie story: Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) is Santa Claus’ (JK Simmons) head of security, and he’s all set to retire after one final Christmas mission with the big guy. He’s feeling pretty down since the naughty list has shot up by 20%. But things take a wild turn when Santa, known as Red One, suddenly goes missing.

With a dark force looming that could ruin Christmas, Callum has to step up not just to rescue Santa but also to save the holiday spirit. To tackle this challenge, he joins forces with Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), a bounty hunter and expert tracker, whose skills are what led to Santa’s abduction.

Red One movie review: Red One, the holiday action-comedy featuring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, missed its theatrical release in India last month but is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Critics were pretty harsh when it first came out, and even though I tried to avoid reviews and spoilers, a few comments managed to sneak through before I finally watched it.

I went into Red One with super low expectations, which probably helped because it wasn’t the total train wreck everyone made it out to be. It didn’t exactly give me those warm, fuzzy Christmas vibes, but it wasn’t a total letdown either. It got me thinking that maybe I’m not the intended audience. Kids might actually enjoy it, even if Drift’s big trick feels like something straight from Dr. Hank Pym’s playbook.

The main issue with Red One isn’t the storyline, which is actually pretty decent—there’s a villain who wants to lock up everyone on Santa’s naughty list, and Santa’s powers are key to stopping him. The real problem lies with the team behind the film, especially director Jake Kasdan, who didn’t quite capture the same engaging magic as his Jumanji films.

Dwayne Johnson doesn’t have much to work with here; instead of Kevin Hart, he’s paired with Evans. The chemistry between Johnson and Evans just doesn’t match what he has with Hart. Evans can definitely pull off the sleazy vibe, like he did in Knives Out, and he tries to channel a bit of Jack Sparrow as Jack O’Malley. Still, the character ends up being pretty forgettable. Simmons as Santa Claus is a solid pick, but like the rest of the cast, he doesn’t get much to do.

The real blunder, though, was casting Kiernan Shipka as the villainous winter witch Gryla. She’s neither frightening nor funny, which are usually the two things you want from a Christmas movie villain. Gryla just doesn’t leave much of an impression.

So, what was Red One aiming for? A heartwarming holiday comedy? If that’s the case, it falls short on the laughs. If it was meant to be an action drama, then it definitely needed more fight scenes, especially with Gryla. It’s disappointing that a film with this lineup ends up being so average.

Red One movie verdict: “We work for the kids,” Santa tells Callum Drift in Red One. Let’s just say the film seems to be aimed at that audience.

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