‘Red One’ – A mediocre Christmas movie

At this time of year, many are gearing up for the familiar tradition of watching Christmas movies. Red One has emerged as a holiday contender to add to your list. Set in a hyper-militarised operation at the North Pole, it stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as the world’s largest elf, whose mission is to protect Santa Claus, who has just gone missing.

The movie begins with a large amount of set up. Red One introduces viewers to a north pole that’s run like a well-organised army compound, and shows Santa moving at hyper speed to deliver presents all around the world. The methods might be different, but the aesthetics are largely the same. There are elves running around, the sleigh is pulled by reindeer, though Santa Claus swaps his big belly for big arms.

It’s a unique take on a classic story, and its the best part of Red One. It’s when the plot kicks in that things go awry. Santa’s kidnapping kicks off an action sequence that’s conceptually sound, but looks too fake to take seriously. The visual effects are too unpolished to convey any sense of stakes, and end up being an ugly distraction.

Some action scenes fare better than others. A fight against three snowmen on a beach is a solid sequence, but it’s undermined by an unconvincing climax. Unfortunately, the film shifts from a relatively fresh take on the Santa Claus myth to something more derivative, resembling a typical mega-blockbuster. Every trick and plotline from superhero movies of the past two decades is recycled in Red One, but with less intrigue and poorer visuals.

Red One is a roller coaster of a film with middling highs and depressing lows. The saving grace of the film is its emotional centre. Chris Evans and Dwayne Johnson discover the meaning of Christmas, but the journey to get there is such a dull mess, that by the end, you forget why they lost it in the first place. For the holiday season, you could certainly do worse than Red One, but you could do a lot better too.

Rating: Catch it on cable

Damian Levy is a film critic and podcaster for Damian Michael Movies.