Review | Red One movie review: Christmas action comedy with Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans is too dark
The Rock gets knocked silly by monsters and murderous snowmen in his bid to save Santa Claus in a festive film devoid of Christmas cheer
2/5 stars
Christmas with The Rock is not nearly as much fun as one would hope.
In Red One, Dwayne Johnson stars as Cal, chief security officer to Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons). Burned out from the stress of dealing with humans, Cal is about to retire when his boss is kidnapped on Christmas Eve.
This is the baffling premise of Jake Kasdan’s action comedy, apparently geared towards prepubescent boys who think Christmas does not have enough firepower – or trolls, witches, torture chambers, slap fights and car chases.
Helping Cal rescue Santa is Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), an alcoholic gambler in debt to the mob and a long-time Christmas cynic.
