Red One
Jack O’Malley is a computer hacker, who has just sold the location of an ‘unknown subject’ to an ‘unknown seller’…
Unbeknownst to him, he just sold the whereabouts of Santa Clause, to the witch Gryla – who opposes Santa’s ‘good list’.
Now, Santa’s chief security agent Callum “Cal” Drift, along with his boss Zoe – must enlist the help of Jack in order to find Santa, because it is two days til Christmas!
Direction
Fun direction from Jake Kasdan who is known for his collaboration with Dwayne Johnson in the Jumanji films. There are plenty of fun action sequences (albeit a tad CGI heavy), but in a world where the North Pole, and there are many mythical creatures around, this is hard not to have to use.
Cast/Characters
Dwayne Johnson plays Cal, who is days away from retirement when Santa is kidnapped.
Chris Evans plays Jack, who we meet as an almost ‘grown up’ Scrooge/Grinch – even going as far as taking candy from a baby!
Lucy Liu plays Zoe, who is the boss of MORA (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) who oversees Santa’s activities, as well as the other mythological creatures.
Kiernan Shipka plays Gryla – the witch who wants to punish all the naughty people of the world, even those who make small mistakes (essentially 99.9% of the world).
Kristofer Hivju, (under very heavy and impressive prosthetic) plays Krampus, who is Santa’s brother, and Gryla’s ex boyfriend.
JK Simmonds plays Santa, who really only gets moments in the bookends of the film.
Other cast members include; Bonnie Hunt as Mrs Claus. I would have loved if she had more to do, but the film is a little cast heavy. Nick Kroll plays ‘Ted’ the middle man who hired Jack to get the information for Gryla.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Liv, Jack’s ex girlfriend and mother to his child, and Wesley Kimmel (nephew of Jimmy) who plays Jack’s son Dylan.
Breakdown
Fun enough Christmas film, which takes the character of Santa and puts him in a completely different identity, and his mode of operation.
In this world, the government are well aware of him, and they have even set up the agency to protect him and his world (MORA).
The plot is a little basic, Santa has been kidnapped and the good guys have to find him. The characters of Cal and Jack seem to be written especially for those who play them – with Cal’s physicality and Jack’s comedic apathy.
There are a few too many cliche moments – Jack having lost the spirit of Christmas (and being an absent father too), and Cal is of course ready to retire at any moment – having grown wary of the ‘naughty’ kids as well as their parents. They both do the standard 180 throughout.
Shipka’s Gryla doesn’t really feel like a true threat until the third act, and the directors clearly forgot she was speaking with a British accent early in the film as she reverts back to her native American later in the film.
The big up for me is Hivju’s Krampus, who is a hoot every time he appears on screen. I was a big fan of some of the fight choreography too, especially when MORA come to get Jack early in the film.
I absolutely LOVED the giant Reindeer, and it was a great addition to the mythology of Santa.
At 124m, it is a little long, and there are a small handful of scenes that might be a tad scary for younger kids (like Kroll’s scene on the beach).
Overall
Very fun Christmas film, with a few too many cliche’ moments that didn’t really need to be included.
A tad too long, with some questionable CGI, but still a fun ride!
More JK Simmons would have been nice.
3.5/5
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