While I know we haven’t even celebrated Thanksgiving yet, there is no denying that the holiday season is in full swing!
I’m always on the lookout for new festive flicks to enjoy with my family and decided to take a crack at ‘Red One’ last week.
Honestly, I think Red One falls into that strange Christmas movie category with “Die Hard” (1988), “Krampus” (2015), or “Violent Night” (2022).
It’s very non-traditional and action-packed, but there is a bit of holiday spirit woven in the background – not to mention, I probably laughed more than I should have at some of the jokes.
Red One is a 2024 American action-adventure Christmas comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Chris Morgan, from an original story by Hiram Garcia.
The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, J.K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Nick Kroll, Kristofer Hivju, and Wesley Kimmel.
It clocks in at 123 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for action, some violence, and language.
M.O.R.A (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) is a clandestine, multilateral military organization that oversees and protects a secret peace treaty between mythological creatures and humanity.
Callum Drift (Johnson) head commander of Santa Claus’s ELF (Enforcement Logistics and Fortification) security, requests to retire after one last Christmas run, as he has become disillusioned with increased bad behavior in the world, exemplified by the growth of Santa’s Naughty List.
On Christmas Eve, a black ops team breaks into the North Pole complex and kidnaps Santa (Simmons).
Callum notifies MORA Director Zoe Harlow (Liu) about the kidnapping.fZoe’s team discovers that the North Pole’s secret location was compromised by Jack O’Malley (Evans), a mercenary black-hat hacker who claims to be able to find anything in the world.
Zoe has Jack apprehended for questioning, but Jack did not know the information he hacked was related to Santa, and merely sent said information to an anonymous buyer.
Zoe offers to double Jack’s payment if he helps them find Santa, but places a tracker inside him to curb his chances at breaking his word and trying to disappear.
Callum reluctantly teams up with Jack to find Santa, first by tracking down the broker who arranged the deal between Jack and the kidnapper in Aruba.
The broker tells them that the kidnapper is the winter witch Grýla (Shipka).
Grýla becomes aware of their conversation and sends her snowmen to eliminate them.
Even though Callum and Jack defeat them, the broker is iced in the scuffle.
Callum suspects that Grýla might be working with Krampus (Hivju), Santa’s estranged adoptive brother, who is also Grýla’s ex-lover, and the one who created the Naughty List.
Callum and Jack break into Krampus’ lair but are captured.
Callum tries to appeal to Krampus to help his brother, who misses him, but Krampus refuses.
Despite being allowed to leave, Jack stays and persuades Krampus to play Krampusschlap with Callum, during which Jack recovers Callum’s magic gauntlet and returns it to him, allowing the pair to escape.
Even when Callum and Jack escape Krampus’ lair, they still have more work to do and things get harder as time counts down to Christmas.
Overall, I found the movie to be an interesting take on how myths and legends seem to coexist with the human world.
Plus, there are plenty of comedic moments with heartfelt insights sprinkled throughout the film.
I’m fully recommending this flick for everyone because there’s just something magical about seeing myths come alive on the big screen.
