I had heard nothing, but bad things about Red One, but I am a huge fan of The Rock so I knew I would be checking this out, regardless of what the expert movie critics had to say. Once the movie ended, I was kind of shocked, not in a bad way, but in a good way as I loved this movie! Red One is a fun and exciting Christmas movie and I legit have no idea why the critics hated it! It is pretty much exactly what you would expect from a Christmas movie starring The Rock and I mean that in a good way. Well, a good way if you like The Rock!
How to Download Red One
Red One was released on November 6, 2024. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like Dwayne Johnson, check him out in other movies such as Fast X, Black Adam, or Skyscraper.
The Movie Review
A Star-Studded Cast
It seems like people are starting to turn on The Rock and I wonder if that is why it has gotten the critical reception that it has. As well as The Rock, we have an awesome cast in this movie, JK Simmons is great as the jacked Santa Claus and we also have Chris Evans as a hustler/bounty hunter too. Plus, Lucy Lui is in this movie and I am always down for a bit of Lucy Lui. Kiernan Shipka is the villain in the movie and I got a huge kick with how over the top she was.
The Plot: Santa Gets Kidnapped!
The movie starts in The North Pole where we find out that for the first time in history, there are more people on the naughty list than the nice list. While this sucks, this years Christmas is about to get even more naughty as Santa gets kidnapped! That is right, Santa gets kidnapped. That is the base for the movie, it is a kidnapping movie
A Fun Action-Comedy
With Christmas super close, Santa needs to be found right away and that is where The Rock comes into play. The Rock plays the role of Callum Drift, the head security guy for the North Pole and he teams up with a dude called Jack to find Santa. Jack is played by Chris Evans and he is clearly having a lot of fun in this role.
That is the basics of what is going on here, we have these two getting into all kinds of situations and meeting all kinds of “interesting” characters as they try to find Santa Claus and save Christmas. Honestly, this is a fun action comedy and I am still trying to get my head around how people are saying that it sucks!
Comparisons to Jingle All the Way
In some ways, this feels like The Rocks Jingle All the Way if that makes sense. There were many bad reviews for Jingle All the Way back in the 90s and now it is a cult classic, I could see Red One becoming the same thing. Although, the massive 250 million budget is probably going to ensure that in this initial theatrical run, it is going to be a bust which is a shame. Although I have to be honest, as much as I love this movie, I do not see 250 million dollars on the screen, unless we are talking The Rock and Chris Evans’s salaries of course!
A Must-Watch for Christmas Movie Fans
If you love Christmas movies, especially those that are more about having fun than being some kind of deep and meaningful story with expert cinematography to impress the stuff movie critics, you will love Red One. I had a blast with this and I kind of wish that I waited a little closer to December to go and check this one out.
