Red One (2024)

CinemaSerf

6.0

Nov 10, 2024

I thought this came to the cinemas about a month early, but it's still an amiable adventure showcase for Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans. It all starts on Christmas Eve when Santa Clause (J.K. Simmons) is kidnapped from his North Pole home. It's retirement time for his head of security "Cal" (Johnson) so he's not best pleased after hundreds of years - and working with "Zoe" (Lucy Lui) he has to find out just how his boss's security was compromised in the first place - and then get to the rescuing bit. That search leads them to tech whizz "Jack" (Chris Evans) but he hadn't any idea whom his clie…

The star-studded cast, featuring J.K. Simmons, Kiernan Shipka, Chris Evans, and Dwayne Johnson, brings a decent level of chemistry to the screen, which is one of the movie's few strengths. While the actors clearly enjoy playing off each other, the story itself is expectedly generic, relying heavily on predictable holiday tropes. The script fails to inject enough fun to offset its cliché formulas, and despite its festive intentions, the film feels stuck in cruise control, never quite capturing the magic or excitement one might hope for from a Christmas blockbuster. Technically, RED ONE falte…

r96sk

7.0

Nov 22, 2024

Pretty solid festive fare, this. <em>'Red One'</em> is perhaps slightly overlong and I didn't sense much chemistry between the cast, though those onscreen still give enjoyable performances and the plot is suitably entertaining whilst giving the necessary Xmas vibes. I was quite impressed with the special effects, I personally thought that side of this flick looked pretty neat. Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans are fun enough in this. Johnson is a bit more serious than usual and I liked that, while Evans' character ends up being the heart of the movie. J. K. Simmons, more than Johnson, plays…