Red One

 

“Are you telling me, this clown is a Level 4 Naughty Lister?”

Shiny, cheery but derivative, Red One lets The Rock and Chris Evans take an action-packed stab at the Christmas genre to mixed results, that makes the most of the vast mythology of Christmas traditions but never distinguishes itself as truly unique amidst the other seasonal streaming fare of recent years. 

Discussion Points:

So MGM, Universal and Warner Bros have created the most Netflix-esque Christmas streamer for Amazon PrimeVideo and it’s….. fine. Like I enjoyed it, didn’t hate it, occasionally exhaled out my noise at loosely comedic moments. Found the action somewhat engaging, although the CGI was inconsistent - great polar bear and icemen, but the motion blur during action or shiny metallic objects definitely looked artificial. What didn’t look artificial was the prosthetic makeup work which was very impressive. I think The Rock and Chris Evans make for a fine pairing but Lucy Liu is wasted and I honestly would’ve loved more time with Evans as a misfit dad with his kid and with J.K. Simmons doing Santa work with the E.L.F.s. Ultimately, this is a film my less misfit Dad really enjoyed because he’s not an elitist like me aha and I’m glad we got to go out and see it together in an empty VMAX cinema so he could laugh as loudly and obnoxiously as he wanted. I’m sure it’ll do very well on streaming in December and plenty of people will be drawn towards it given its star power - shame it’s not more original or engaging.