Red One [2024] – Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu

Red One is Amazon MGM’s try at doing Christmas movies. It fails hard on capitalizing on its A List cast. Don’t expect a Red Two.

Red One lacks too many elements to be a holiday classic. The first half is all over the place, the second half remembers its reason to exist, but too weak to execute on it. Instead, it tried to go the Mission Impossible route. Yes, I did enjoy the mistletoe mayhem in the second act. However, Thankfully, the movie gets way better when Krampus (played by Kristofer Hivju) shows up. Sadly, it’s a short and pointless appearance.

Don’t get me wrong. Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans and Lucy Liu do nothing wrong. They just happen to be in a film that is so schizophrenic that it has no pure purpose. What we have here is a poor attempt at a blockbuster; a movie that doesn’t have a single original bone in its body, and that feels like an amorphous mixture of different elements that worked better in other (and superior) productions.

Yes, I’m not a fan of Johnson or what he calls acting, but eventhough he’s definitely typecasted here, it’s still doesn’t work for me. However, Evans and Liu are a whole different story. How did they accept to be part of this thing is beyond me.

Lower your bar, and you’ll be mildly entertained.

Should you watch it?

This movie is not it. Imagine any other Dwayne Johnson, but make him Santa’s bodyguard, and you get whatever this is. Sorry Chris Evans, you need a new manager.

Where can I watch it?

Red One is now playing in theaters.