Colleen Grahek
Staff Writer
When you go to see a Dwayne Johnson film, what do you expect? Some muscle, a smile, a no-nonsense attitude and a few catchy one-liners? What about him fighting the supernatural and having a job as Santa’s right-hand man?
This holiday season brings a new action-adventure, family comedy in the form of “Red One.” Directed by Jake Kasdan, the movie stars Johnson as Callum Drift, a head security guard of the North Pole who must team up with Jake O’Malley (Chris Evans), a self-proclaimed professional hacker, to save Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) from a gang of kidnappers bent on taking over Christmas.
The supporting cast includes Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Nick Kroll, Kristofer Hivju and Wesley Kimmel.
On advanced and initial releases, negative reviews and financial flops have been the main consensus for Dwayne Johnson’s latest star turn. But does the film deserve all of the bags of coal that it gets?
The two main characters portrayed by Johnson and Evans do provide brief moments of chemistry that outshines the rest of the movie. Although the dynamic of two people being partnered up against their will to work together and learning to overcome their differences along the way is far from original, how they play off of each other does provide some entertainment value that is worth at least part of the price of the movie ticket.
Evans’ character is not very interesting in terms of personality. Coming off as the typical jerk who loses the Christmas spirit when he was a child, he then finds it in his heart to find that Christmas spirit and have a better relationship with his son. This is a lesson that has been taught before in more effective ways and better movies, and the development of the father-son relationship is rushed and two-dimensional. Evans’ quippy and sarcastic one-liners that are only scripted for the laughs can get a few chuckles, but do tend to get overboard as the movie goes on.
All of the genuinely good acting moments come from Johnson. One particular example is when he has a heart-to-heart with Santa towards the beginning of the movie. He confesses on how his faith in the Christmas spirit, and his passion for his job as Santa’s head bodyguard has dwindled due to the growing dissent and increased apathy in the adult world. If this story aspect was focused on more, it could have been a good allegory for how the loss of one’s love for their passion can impact their drive for what they do. This would not have made the movie original, but it would have made a bigger impact for the adult demographic.
In addition, with the studio’s implied focus on also targeting the younger demographic, there has to be a lot of CGI and action scenes to entertain them. Unfortunately, those moments of spectacle happen very frequently and not very convincingly. Too much shaky cam and sped-up action during the main battle scenes make it hard to focus on what is supposed to be going on, and the effects used on the snow monsters, North Pole creatures and golems is laughably distracting.
Aside from Lucy Liu who always looks like she tries to have fun in whatever role she plays, the rest of the supporting cast provide very bland performances that are unmemorable and get forgotten when they leave the screen. This is especially disappointing when it comes to the villain, Gryla (Shipka). With no clear motivation behind her actions and a half-hearted performance with no motivation other than just saying words on a screen, she comes across as very one note.
The costume designs, though unremarkable, do provide a good representation of the characters. The red, white and green attire of the characters in the North Pole versus the gray, black and dull colors of the human world provide a stark contrast that is appropriate, even if it is a little cliche. The cinematography and set design also play on this idea with the aesthetics of the North Pole versus the human world. Though not very subtle, it does try to evoke the right mood the audience is supposed to be feeling at different moments.
In the end, although there were more laughs than expected and there are hints of a couple of good ideas, “Red One” ultimately provides a few mildly amusing moments, but in terms of quality and substance it does not deliver.