Red One Review
Mega flop or Christmas classic?
The Rock compared this to a slew of films including the classing It’s A Wonderful Life which is laughable after watching this. This follows the story of Santa play by JK Simmons who gets kidnapped by a witch, whose ex happens to be Krampus, Santa’s adoptive brother. This witch is on a mission to punish all the naughty. After Santa gets taken, it leads to Calum played by The Rock, who happens to be his lead security; to go get him back and save Christmas before its to late. Chris Evans Jack O’Malley enters the chat as a hacker snd conman. Who is also is a deadbeat dad. In their search they find that Jack helped them to find Santa unknowingly. But will they save Christmas?
This film was unbearably long, lacks chemistry, horrendous CGI, and had no business with a $250 million budget. Also, makes me realize Chris Evans needs acting classes and a new agent. Because, that was painful to watch, no effort and no spirit on his end. I almost thought he was reading queue cards and not acting. You couldn’t tell he was playing a parent, because of the lack of chemistry. I felt they weren’t even on set together, it felt weird and just poorly written. This is not a Christmas classic or entertaining, nor did it have any business on an IMAX screen.
Chris Evans what are you doing? The man who made, Puncture, Sunshine, Knives Out, and Snowpiercer has fallen flat and makes me question his acting. The Rock, I knew what I was getting into, and I was at least hoping it was entertaining but I almost fell asleep. He needs to prioritize story telling, and putting heart into these films. There was no need for a lot of the sequences, such as Calum being able to make himself small like Ant-Man, yes Ant-Man. I’d like to see a redo for Chris to make a holiday romcom or work with Nancy Meyers or a filmmaker that ignites a strong acting performance that doesn't sound like he’s reading from queue cards.
Overall 1.5/5 definitely not a Christmas classic, but an easily forgettable film. It’s not “a so bad its good” no its just not good, and cringy a lot of the film. There are better Christmas films out there, that actually have the heart and are classics.