Dwayne Johnson’s film career has seen better days. The Christmas action spectacle Red One – Christmas Alert is intended to turn the situation around thanks to its huge budget and star cast. But the seemingly perfect drawing board idea can’t convince on the screen where she can be seen from now on.
There are three main reasons for this: The mega-blockbuster neither thrills with wild action nor does it strain the funny bone with humor. And it has a moral that you know from many, much better films.
Check out the trailer for Red One here:
Red One: Christmas Alert – Trailer 2 (German) HD
That’s what Dwayne Johnson’s Christmas blockbuster Red One is about
In Red One, Santa Claus (JK Simmons) is not only real, but a busy man. He is at the head of a tightly managed company, complete with security personnel and a logistics department, that is supposed to deliver gifts to the whole world on Christmas Eve. But much to the shock of security chief Callum Drift (Johnson), the good-natured old man becomes kidnapped by unknown people. To find him again, Drift recruits the help of amoral bounty hunter Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans).
A weakness of Red One can be seen from minute 1
Red One’s first weakness is immediately apparent: it’s easy for long stretches not particularly nice. Regardless of whether it’s CGI reindeer, mythical winter monsters or Santa Claus’ gigantic headquarters: the look of the film looks cheerless and the technical implementation is outdated.
Without the obvious use of visual effects, the impression is even worse: sets, equipment and costumes appear completely careless. Chris Evans’ character shuffles through pale environments in a run-of-the-mill leather jacket, the most exciting parts of which are Ikea shelves. The whole mise-en-scène of camera angles and lighting reminds me of a shallow one Christmas drama production from Hallmark. How can a film look like this and cost 250 million?
Both the action and comedy in Red One disappoint
The poor appearance ruins a lot, but could still be saved with captivating action and pointed comedy. Unfortunately, the former is spoiled by 1,000 cuts, some of which are completely confusing, and the latter is not present. Johnson’s talent for self-irony, with which he makes films like Jumanji so entertaining is almost completely missing here. Alternatively, we could laugh at the characters’ quirks, but the film doesn’t introduce them enough to that. And the script simply isn’t creative enough for dialogue comedy.
With action and humor, two of the three big selling points of director Jake Kasdan, who also directed the last two Jumanji films with Johnson, fall by the wayside. The Christmas film factor remains. Does Red One deliver a contemplative story?
Red One tells a completely flat story
Similar to the Christmas classics, Isn’t Life Beautiful? or The Spirits I Called, Red One’s emotional core is about the transformation of man from hopelessness to hope. The film presents several approaches to this: Drift has lost his trust in the goodness of humanity, O’Malley even firmly believes in the evil in people as a dominant force.
But in order for us to be captivated by their development towards good, we have to get to know them. And this is best done in situations that we don’t already know from countless other films. But Red One has nothing else to offer: O’Malley doesn’t attend his son’s concert and thus shows himself to be a bad father. Drift observes people stealing and therefore turns his back on humanity. Having standard moments like that no emotional punch whatsoever. And beyond that, screenwriter Chris Morgen is apparently hardly interested in the suffering and joy of his characters.
So when the moment inevitably comes when O’Malley does want to save his son, it doesn’t warm our hearts, but merely fulfills an expectation that we have out of sheer habit. In other words, Red One, this hyped-up entertainment product on steroids, has the emotional appeal of a crankshaft.
Since the spread of ChatGPT, it has become fashionable among critics to criticize films for their dramaturgical mechanics. For example by saying it is a film “rotated according to the algorithm” or “created by AI“been.
I suspect the same will be said about Red One. The film hits its story hooks with such predictability, relies so heavily on familiar ideas and exudes such callousness towards its own characters that I can only agree with its opponent. In fact, I only see one way to have fun with Kasdan’s film. Namely, by viewing it as a completely unbounded trash pleasure.
Dwayne Johnson’s film could become a trash classic
This means that a lack of emotional depth, cut-up action scenes or ugly visuals are not only ignored, but are also made into a source of entertainment. Jack O’Malley talks to his son like an intercom? Chris Evans looks like he walked into the scene in his normal street clothes? Regardless, it’s all part of the vibe. As long as you can say goodbye to trying to judge the film seriously.
Anyone who sees the film as a trash fever dream will be well served. Especially with some really insane gimmicks. For example, a chicken named Hellen, who is created from a toy and serves as a living diversionary tactic. Muscular snowmen, that melt without a carrot nose. Or a Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), who celebrates “Krampusnacht” (original English term) with a slapping competition in snowy Germany (!).
Maybe Red One will become a classic for everyone who likes to watch a film ironically. Whether it saves Dwayne Johnson’s career, however, is a question of box office. It would be the triumph of the perfect product.
Red One – Christmas Alert has been running in German cinemas since November 7, 2024.