Director: Jake Kasdan
Writer: Chris Morgan and Hiram Garcia
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, and J.K. Simmons
Hello and welcome back to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com and a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! As I hinted last week during the end of my movie marathon…read that here, I did indeed kick off the Holiday season with a Christmas movie. We had a large group take up the back row of my local AMC theater and had a good time watching “Red One” directed by Jake Kasdan (the same guy who brought us the two newest Jumaji films). I’m hearing mixed reports on what people think of it and my opinion may change as well as I let it sit longer, but before we get into the spirit of things, don’t let spoilers ruin your holiday cheer. If you don’t want to know what happens, go to my homepage to check out some other reviews first, then come back here once you’re ready.
Ok, to start, I must say I was worried that we were shown all the good parts in the trailer already, but to my surprise…there were still many surprises along the way. But first, we start with a young Jack O’Malley (Evans) as he begins his career on the naughty list and we get some insight into the man he would become later. Cue the time jump to modern times as Jack is clearly not a very good person as he masterfully pulls off stealing some data (more on that later). Then we get whisked over the Philadelphia where we get to meet Nick (Simmons) and Callum Drift (Johnson) for the first time. I have to admit, I’ve seen lots of movies with Santa Claus as a character, but Simmons’ version may just be one of my favorites as of now.
After the festivities at the mall, Nick and Callum (Cal for short) make their way back home to the North Pole. It’s always fun to see what different movies do with that area. How they “hide” it from the public eye, how it’s laid out, but most importantly… who is doing work for the Claus’. In this case, it’s a variety of trolls, polar bears, and humans as far as I could see. (Let me know if I overlooked any). Things are all going according to plan until someone finds out where the North Pole is, breaks in, and kidnaps Nick. We find out that the data that Jack stole and sold was the location of an anomaly that led to Nick being taken. With the help of Zoe (Liu), Jack gets brought in for questioning and eventually joins the team on a temporary basis so they can use his skills to locate Nick.
What happens next is sort of a globe-trotting adventure that leads Cal and Jack to Aruba (through a portal in a toy store obviously) where they learn that it’s the ice witch Gryla (Kiernan Shipka) who is behind the kidnapping. This is also the fun scene where they fight the snowmen only to find out about their hilarious weakness that makes them easy to beat. Around now is when you get the feeling Jack is starting to change his mind about everything. So, that is a great segway into their next destination when they have to go find and talk to Krampus (played wonderfully by Kristofer Hivju). The whole part where they are in Krampus’s lair is good, but it’s also a little dark and gritty with several nefarious-looking characters all over the place. Thanks to some fast thinking by Jack, the two of them escape and can return their findings to Zoe.
Even though my older kids enjoyed this, I could see how some younger kids may be put off by some of the creatures and maybe even this next scene when Jack and his son Dylan (Wesley Kimmel) get transported into snow globes for Gryla’s collection. The same collection that she wants to put every naughty person in the world in. However, she didn’t realize that with some good, they could break out of the globes so Jack and Dylan get out just as Cal shows up. They are just in time to free the workers who are locked up and then make a final stand against Gryla.
The final fight isn’t anything you wouldn’t expect. Gryla tries to take off with Santa’s sleigh so she can deliver all the snow globes around the world to the naughty kids (and adults) but they stop her at the last moment, but as she turns the tides on them, Krampus shows up to save the day. It was fun to watch play out even though it wasn’t anything original. In the end, Christmas is saved and so is Jack and Dylan’s relationship.
I think if you are into Christmas movies, this will be right up your alley. If you’re into watching Dwayne Johnson in an action flick, this will be up your alley. If you like big over-the-top production with a stellar cast, this will also be up your alley. So basically, there is a lot to like about “Red One”. Personally, I believe I fall a little bit into all three of those categories, so obviously this was a win for me. It wasn’t quite a kid’s movie, but it will definitely fall into the bucket of a family movie since there will be something for everyone in here to enjoy.
Overall, I think the story could have been a bit more polished and Evans could have played Jack a little differently but it’s pretty solid from start to finish. I highly recommend you add this to your holiday viewing list and I give it a solid 8 out of 10 for pure fun and enjoyment.
That’s it for this week. Have you had a chance to see “Red One” yet? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Did you like Johnson and Evans as an acting duo? What was your favorite part? Please let me know in the comments below. There are plenty of movies out to watch right now, so I will definitely be back next week for another mindless movie review of some sort.
