Red One an entertaining albeit mismatched,
well-meaning Christmas action movie
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Chris Evans, Dwayne Johnson, Lucy Liu, Kristopher Hivju, Kiernan Shipka, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Wesley Kimmel and Bonnie Hunt with J.K. Simmons
THE REVIEW: RED ONE is entertaining, thanks to the strong performances of the cast, its action sequences which don’t feel overtly hokey or forced and relatable story. However, given that the aforementioned action sequences and language are far too intense for anyone under 10, the message of the film is geared more towards adults and it’s length at just over 2 hours in length, it’s also a movie without a defined audience. While the film explores one of the lost staples of Christmas – seeing the goodness in others – it also cuts off the carrot off its snowmen’s respective faces by not quite fitting into one particular audience.
For all his recent WWE and athletic prowess, RED ONE reminds us that behind Johnson’s physicality also lies a man capable of conveying emotion with a simple gaze, vocal tone or smile. Johnson plays well against Evans’ character’s very anti-Captain America-like behavior, which never feels forced or included for the story’s sake. It’s the classic “I don’t like you, I don’t like you either” polar opposites formula, but it works as both Evans and Johnson execute it well.
The biggest standpoint performances, however, belong to the film’s lesser-known cast members.
Kiernan Shipka’s portrayal of Gryla, the evil Christmas witch, is never out of place, helping to make her a formidable foe once she is introduced into the story, even her own personal backstory never truly comes into focus. It is Game of Thrones alum Kristopher Hivju, however, who steals the show as Nick’s half brother Krampus, so much so that if he were to get his own spin-off film, it might do better than RED ONE is likely to do on its own.
Overall, RED ONE is an entertaining affair, but its constant flip-flopping between wanting to be an action movie and a family affair makes for a balanced experience that ends up feeling unbalanced for the very audiences it seeks to attract. It’s sort of like Cars meets The Fast and the Furious, which while entertaining on their own aren’t exactly the easiest mashup to make work together. It’s got just enough to keep you watching, but not enough to truly hook you into adding it to your Christmas classics list.
To quote the Bible verse where the quote is found, “no one can serve two masters.” In the case of RED ONE, trying to make a Christmas action movie feels like trying to serve to audiences at once, possibly to its own detriment even though, in the end, it works better than it should.
If nothing else, one thing is for sure: You’ll never look at Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots the same way ever again.