Red One is a peculiarly interesting film … in that there is absolutely nothing interesting about it at all....
CINEMA SCOPE
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, J. K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Nick Kroll, Kristofer Hivju, and Wesley Kimmel
Directed by: Jake Kasdan
Red One is a peculiarly interesting film … in that there is absolutely nothing interesting about it at all. Which may not seem all that remarkable, given that there is no shortage of lacklustre Hollywood flicks, but what makes Red One downright fascinating is the scope of its production: a US$200 million plus budget; two big names starring as the leads; a director who can, if nothing else, make fun action fodder … all that, and yet not a single redeemable thing about the project? That’s almost … impressive.
It can’t have been easy to make something this boring, but Jake Kasdan and his team appear to have embraced that as a challenge while creating this Christmas travesty.
The festival is nigh as the proceedings begin, and Santa Claus (J. K. Simmons) is busy preparing for his annual run, looking forward to delivering presents to kids around the world. His head of security, Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), however, has become disillusioned with the holiday, what with the ever-growing Naughty List, and has handed in his resignation amidst his crisis of faith.
But before Callum can say goodbye to his North Pole post, he has to spring into action when Santa is kidnapped on Christmas Eve. The person responsible for compromising Santa’s secret location is hacker Jack O'Malley (Chris Evans), who delivered the information to an anonymous client, not knowing its implications.
Callum must then team up with Jack to find out who has kidnapped Santa, rescue Saint Nick, and save Christmas.
Watching Johnson and Evans in a mismatched buddy adventure should theoretically be fun, but in reality … boy is it a snoozefest!
All aspects of the production are entirely charmless. The script is terrible, the storyline chock full of cliches, the visuals flat and uninspired. It’s hard to tell who the target audience of the movie is meant to be; the content isn’t entirely suitable for young children and is too dumb for everyone else.
The cast just seems to be phoning it in and can’t bring the wit and charm necessary to make the proceedings engaging. Why the one-dimensional Dwayne Johnson was cast in (and reportedly paid $50 million for) his role is a mystery. Not only is he not the best actor for the part (or in general), but, given his performance, he wasn’t necessarily even the best former wrestler for the role; John Cena or Dave Bautista could have potentially brought more whimsy to the part. Chris Evans just seems to be doing his best Ryan Reynolds impression. Kiernan Shipka, who portrays the wicked Gryla, makes an unconvincing villain. And if you want a movie where Simmons plays Santa, then maybe watch the significantly better animated adventure comedy Klaus instead where the actor voices the titular role.
All in all, Red One lacks the Christmas spirit and makes for immemorable viewing. Given the resources and supposed talent associated with the project, the movie could – and should – have been so much better.
Rating: 1 out of 5
