Get ready for action, adventure, and comedy!
“Red One” boasts Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Chris Evans in a dynamic duo that’s sure to ignite the screen.
Standing next to The Rock, even Captain America looks petite
Adding to the star power, Lucy Liu, known for her roles in “Charlie’s Angels” and “Why Women Kill,” provides support, while J.K. Simmons brings his charm as Santa Claus
With a $7 million budget, co-produced by Amazon and MGM, and internationally distributed by Warner Bros., this film is directed by Jake Kasdan of the “Jumanji” series.
From the creative team to the production companies, from the classic red and green color scheme to the festive Christmas music, everything about this movie screams holiday cheer.
Red One: A Winter Action Spectacle
“Red One”
- Release Date: November 8, 2024 (China Mainland)
- Release Date: November 15, 2024 (USA)
“Red One” refers to Santa Claus, making it a distinctly Christmas-themed movie.
The title suggests a “Winter Action” theme, but it’s not quite winter yet, and the heating hasn’t even been turned on!
Originally, the film was shot in 2022 and scheduled for a North American release during the 2023 Christmas season. It seemed poised to be a popcorn-munching blockbuster for the holidays.
So why the shift away from the Christmas slot? Were they worried about exceeding the Christmas movie quota?
After watching the movie, everything becomes clear.
Here’s a diplomatic way to put it:
As a family-friendly popcorn flick, it’s adequate.
However, a trip to the cinema isn’t really necessary.
It’s better suited for streaming on your couch.
01
Standard Hollywood Popcorn
“Red One: Winter Action” has a pretty cool world.
An inorganic coupling of “technological future” and “magical fantasy.”
The leader of the good guys, the embodiment of truth, goodness, and beauty – Santa Claus – possesses real magic.
He lives in the North Pole Mansion, commanding countless troops of elves, goblins, orcs, talking polar bears, and more. Together with his wife, they produce gift packages on an assembly line, like a tangible Amazon production line.
Although the gift-giing process has become industrialized, this boss still takes a hands-on approach.
He not only attends “meet-and-greets” at shopping malls for children who adore him but also works out daily at the gym to personally deliver every gift to a billion children on Christmas Eve.
Santa’s ride is an engine-powered reindeer protected by the U.S. Air Force.
We don’t know the specifics, but it’s probably carrot-powered reindeer + atom-powered trailer…
Therefore, he is called “Red One.”
By the way, Santa Claus is also on the payroll.
The department that manages mythical figures is called the “Myth Management Bureau,” and the director is the handsome and dashing Zoe (Lucy Liu).
She is both intelligent and capable, with excellent management skills and composure in the face of chaos.
Santa’s bodyguard is the Rock himself, Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson). Wearing a special bracelet, he can grow and shrink in size and possesses immense strength.
The story is simple:
Santa Claus is kidnapped on the eve of Christmas, and he needs to be found within 24 hours so he can continue to “fulfill his duties.”
Callum is furious, and Zoe is on high alert. After all, with such high-tech and magical settings, who could have kidnapped him?
The bounty hacker Jack Olymer (Chris Evans) is inextricably linked to this.
Jack is a gambler who owes a lot of money. He constantly commits petty theft in his life and works as a hacker online, doing whatever he’s paid to do.
His employer only wanted a location and didn’t tell him anything about the plan. He didn’t expect to actually get his hands on Santa’s location.
As a result, he is also forced (double commission + the threat of a polar bear) to join the team searching for Santa Claus.
Thus, a pair of male leads embark on an adventure in a fantasy world.
The strong output of Christmas culture in this adventure reaches its maximum value.
The central station connecting the North Pole is a seemingly ordinary toy store, but it is actually a door to different magical regions.
It can lead to golden beaches, where you can find informants surrounded by beautiful women and fight snow monster sent by the villains.
These snow monsters will melt as long as you pull off their carrot noses, but otherwise, they can’t be killed.
You can also turn to the Krampus family and play a game of slapping each other to see who is stronger.
This Krampus is Santa’s brother, also known as the “Christmas Devil.”
In mythology, he is the opposite of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus). Saint Nicholas is kind and amiable, always rewarding good children with candy.
Krampus will beat bad children with birch branches and take them back to his lair.
In the film, he is also the classic skin - a devil with goat horns.
He is incredibly strong, has a three-headed hellhound guarding his home, and likes to set up “Krampus Night” to let guests play the game of slapping each other.
The villain is the Christmas witch Grilla (Kiernan Shipka) and her thirteen sons.
In Norse mythology, she is a strong ogre, a female chieftain living in a cave in the Icelandic hinterland, attacking nearby towns, capturing misbehaving children, and turning them into delicious stew.
But in this film, she is a beauty with fully enclosed black eyeliner, a classic villain outfit.
Superhro references are also used a lot.
For example, Callum’s bracelet can enlarge and shrink the items in the toy store, turning the toy store into Doraemon’s magic pocket.
You can turn a car into a sports car in a flash.
…but you can’t turn a Wonder Woman figure into Wonder Woman.
Overall, this film is a Hollywood commercial film with strong popcorn attributes.
It’s quite relaxing and enjoyable to watch without using your brain.
If you want to relax and have fun, it’s a good choice.
What if you want to use your brain a little?
Then you will go from “clueless” to “unhappy”…
02
I Can’t Hold Back, I’m Going to Start Complaining
This “Red One: Winter Action” is in a very awkward state:
There are plenty of visual effects, but not enough to be really enjoyable.
First of all, the high concept of technology + magic seems to be full of debuffs and is very childish.
The Myth Management Bureau, as technologically advanced as it is, is completely helpless when Santa Claus is kidnapped at first.
Knowing that the other party is a “supernatural force,” the people who go to rescue him are actually The Rock, who is just a physically strong mortal without his super-powered arm ring, and a scruffy hacker guy.
Doesn’t the bureau have more powerful supernatural agents? Why not take the more capable orcs to the main battlefield for the mission?
If the reason is that “ordinary people can’t see the magical world,” then The Rock takes things from the toy store without paying; he directly enlarges the car outside the store without regard for the eyes of passers-by; the witch lets the snowmen directly attack humans on the resort island…
Are there no consequences for these things? Does the Myth Management Bureau not need to quell the boiling public opinion?