Red One
Review: Listen up. This wasn’t a good movie, but it was a fun movie. There are no doubt many moments that were cringey & didn’t hit the mark, but it was fun y’all. The performances fit the film, so weren’t great, but worked. Chris Evans was pretty funny. The Rock (as per usual) was playing The Rock, but I quite like The Rock, so I don’t mind. The supporting cast of Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, & Kristofer Hivju all fit the film, & I liked J.K. Simmons’s take on Santa. Also, the special effects were significantly better than I thought they’d be. Scenery, action scenes, & characters (namely Krampus) all looked good visually. There was one specific moment I thought was a little odd (a close up shot on J.K. Simmons when he was flying the sleigh towards the beginning of the film), but other than that nothing stood out as bad visually. I like that they really did try to give Chris Evans a character arc, by making him not just a bad, cynical guy, but also a deadbeat dad. I always appreciate the familial aspect brought into Christmas movie and the father son dynamic brought that in, as did the brother dynamic with Santa & Krampus.
High: I really enjoy movies & books about the lore & whatnot behind mythological figures, holiday related or not. I find the story behind Santa in ‘The Santa Clause’ films & stories like ‘Rise of the Guardians’ really fascinating. I think this film established some very good lore, even if all the acronyms were silly. I think it brought in a lot of mythology & blended it with a modern action movie well, so credit to the filmmakers. Also, a little random but I like the movies where people just accept that Santa is real.
Low: Yes, there were some cheesy moments, jokes, and the like, but I really think that all the people just crapping on this movie & the people that helped make it happen need to realize what this movie is. I personally went in expecting it to be bad, but just hoped it would be fun. And honestly, it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t necessarily good, but it wasn’t bad. But it was fun. So if you really just despised this movie, I’d encourage you to try & view it in a different light, though you do have the right to your opinion. Also, there were several times that my mom was just cracking up while we were watching it so that has to count for something.
Rating: 7/10 (remember my scores are always based on my personal enjoyment, not how ‘good’ a movie is)
