‘Red One’ Review: The Rock’s $250 Million Nepotism Disaster
When talking about two Hollywood actors whose star power has diminished in just the last five years, you won’t get better examples than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Chris Evans in their latest film Red One is the proof.
Five years ago, The Rock was the most popular and highest-paid actor in Hollywood. Around the same time, Chris Evans was playing Captain America in the biggest film franchise in cinematic history. You would figure that with both guys being at such heights not that long ago, they would be doing much better projects than the latest film from Amazon MGM Studios, Red One.
There’s no better example of Jeff Bezos having too much money to spend. Amazon awarding a film about an elf looking for a kidnapped Santa Claus with a $250 million production budget is quite something. One would have to think a large part of the budget went to paying The Rock and Chris Evans. But the question should be: Is either actor worth the cost?
On his best day, The Rock being a leading man of a film that’s not an already established franchise is good for about $400M worldwide. Despite this box office reality, Rock ended up costing this film $100M. Yes, you read that right. How? Not only was The Rock paid $50M for his investment in the film including production credits for him and his studio Seven Bucks – but some questionable behavior behind the scenes cost the film major delays and another $50M.
On the flip side, Chris Evans will take anything he can get since the last time he was in a film backed by a streaming service. It was last year’s Ghosted with Ana De Armas, one of the worst films of the entire year. With The Rock betting his reputation on the success of this movie, even going as far as to compare it to Oppenheimer in IMAX, the question is was all the effort worth it?
The short answer is no.
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Red One is a story about Jolly Old Saint Nick himself. But this Santa isn’t the Jolly Fat Man who loves eating cookies. Rather, JK Simmons’ Santa is gearing up for another year of Christmas cheer. His head of security, Callum Drift, played by The Rock, is retiring as he feels like people are becoming more and more naughty every day – taking away from the joy of Christmas.
Right before Santa is set to make his run around the world, he is kidnapped by a group of rogue shapeshifters who take him to an undisclosed location. A criminal tracker named Jack O’Malley played by Chris Evans is hired to find Santa Claus before the kidnapping and then hired again to find where he was taken.
As Hollywood is run by nepotism, it’s not a shocking revelation to discover that this film was crafted by The Rock’s former brother-in-law. Red One is a generic action film that is paint-by-numbers from start to finish. It gives you the illusion that this is a family film you can take the whole family to see, but it’s not.
For anyone likening this film to something like Tim Allen’s The Santa Clause, the harsh language and odd pagan horror elements will have you leaving the kids at home. On the bright side, Red One boasts a massive budget, including CGI monsters, making it a spectacle on a blue screen.
The film tries to acknowledge its ridiculousness by trying to get you to buy into the premise of Santa being real and the North Pole operating as if it were the Pentagon. The film brings to life trolls, snowmen, and polar bears that talk, yet the world isn’t as magical as it seems.
The film takes a page out of Black Panther’s book by revealing the North Pole as a secret secluded Paradise hidden from the rest of humanity. While the North Pole looks like a snowy version of Wakanda, you don’t spend much time exploring this universe as the plot takes the central focus, for better or worse.
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“Uninspiring” is the best way to describe this film. However, despite all of its faults, it’s not a terrible movie. Chris Evans tries to charm his way throughout most of the film, and while he doesn’t do much from a character perspective, he also doesn’t wear out his welcome. The Rock is just a presence, as you won’t see him laying the smackdown too much from a character’s perspective.
At its core, this feels like the idea of a family member from outside the business who pitched a film without flushing out how everything would work. Red One will not help the career aspects of The Rock and Chris Evans as they struggle to prove themselves outside of the big franchises.
Overall, Red One will be a win for some who are just desperate for mindless entertainment with no strings attached. For most, it will be difficult to sell them a reason why they have to go to the movie theaters and watch this film in the first place. You’re better off waiting for this film to hit Amazon Prime, which will probably happen within three weeks.
Check out the trailer:
PROS
- Well Paced, Doesn't Drag
- Stage Design
CONS
- Fails As A Family, Christmas, or Action Movie
- Action Is As Flat As Soda
- No Genuine Emotion
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