POPZ-CULTURE Movie Reviews – Red one (2024)
By: Marton Szakadath
Genre: Action, adventure, drama
Age limit: 12
Directed by: Jake Kasdan
Written by: Chris Morgan, Hiram Garcia
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, J.K. Simmons
Watching a film is a great hobby that can give you thousands of experiences. Whether it’s a heart-wrenching drama, a thought-provoking thriller or a historical film, the possibilities for cultured entertainment are almost endless. Red one is nothing of the sort, but it is a stunningly funny, imaginative family entertainment. It’s a popcorn movie in the truest sense of the word, bringing a smile to faces tired after a year’s hard work.
Dwayne Johnson plays Santa’s head of security, who ensures that the big beard can meet children who come to him with wishes in complete peace. But his protector is about to retire, disillusioned by the growing number of bad guys in the world. They agree to ‘one last job together’, but things go wrong. The Arctic base is mysteriously hacked and the children’s favourite gift-bringer is kidnapped. The only help they have is the infamous Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), who can find anyone on the planet.
Can you feel that intense „B-movie” flavour as you read the synopsis? It was hard for us to sketch the story without an awkward half-smile. Still, beyond the silliness, The Red one takes a quite clever, satirical approach to the legends associated with Santa Claus and the questions most kids ask about the old red coat. How do you get presents to all the children in just one night? Where does he wrap and store the presents? Who is Krampus? In this aspect, it is very similar to the director’s previous work, the 2017 Jumanji sequel. There, the clichés of the video game world were the primary source of humour, and now the children’s tales of the man in red have been given a similarly witty reinterpretation. By the end of the film, we’d seen so many unique locations and strange creatures that for us, the Santa Claus mythos elaborated in the film had become a coherent whole.
The visuals are not anything like Avatar, to say the least. The characters could be described in about 2–3 sentences, yet they were easily memorable. Evans managed to play an excellent, quite irritating anti-hero. Since Knives out (2019), we think he’s well suited to these kinds of roles. And Johnson brings his usual good-hearted, decent, endearing character. They make a good pair together, making the most of their situations.
Although the story is quite simple and there are no big twists and turns, the jokes work quite well. The Red one is recommended for anyone looking for a relaxing entertainment in the wait for Christmas.
We hope we’ve inspired your curiosity about the film. If you’ve already seen it, we welcome your thoughts in the comments. If you liked our article, please share our post with others. And if you’re in the mood for a tasty movie and series-watching snack, POPZ popcorn is the best choice.
