By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated
Dwayne Johnson was once the king of blockbusters, able to turn any concept into a hit. Those days are long gone as the power hierarchy in Hollywood has changed and now their movies are just okay.
black adamConsidered a major flop, it is, in retrospect, a solid hit, and time will be so kind to his latest film, one red. The Christmas-themed action movie is now available on Amazon Prime, where it was always meant to be, after a disappointing box office where it failed to recoup its budget, never mind the additional marketing costs, but the sad thing is that it’s really Not even a bad movie.
The cast understood the task
I went to the theater opening weekend to see one red with a friend of mine, intending to laugh at the movie and instead, thanks to the sheer power of Johnson and Chris Evans, we ended up having fun. It’s not that the movie is a secret masterpiece or anything, but it does feature a Santa Claus played by J. K. SimmonsLucy Liu as Nick Fury from the film, Kiernan Shipka chewing the scenery, and Kristofer Hivju, who you’d recognize as Game of Thrones’ Torsmund Giantsbane, as Krampus in a scene-stealing performance. The sum is not greater than the parts, but everyone involved understood the task.
one red starts with Chris Evans as Jack O’Malley, a hacker, thief, tracker, and generally not-very-nice guy who literally steals candy from a baby. David Johnson is Callum Drift, a name that’s right up there with Max Power when it comes to “totally fake names that someone thought sounded cool”, who turns out to be the commander of ELF (Enforcement, Logistics and Fortification) and is capable of one . Facial expression throughout the movie. The two cross paths after Santa is kidnapped and Christmas is in danger of being cancelled, prompting MORA (Mythological Supervision and Restoration Authority) to act.
From ironic laughter to support for Santa
the plot of one red It’s incredibly predictable and simple, but it’s also fun. No one takes the movie seriously, and that gives it an absurd energy that’s missing from most $250 million blockbusters, which, yes, is this movie’s budget, and no, you can’t see it on the screen because most of the special effects look like they came from an original SyFy series. I will say that the evil snowmen look better in the movie than in the trailer, but what was kept hidden is that Johnson shrinks and grows like Ant Man during fight scenes, an effect that seems atrocious every time it occurs.
Although its defects, one red It’s fun because it’s a throwback to the Christmas movies of the ’80s and ’90s, which weren’t afraid to take aim a younger audience. Compared to some modern Christmas classics, such as the inexplicably popular polar expressIt’s a breath of fresh air to at least try to do something a little different. It’s also fun to see Evans continue his post-Captain America career playing fools.
…most of the special effects look like something out of a SyFy original series
one red It’s now available on Amazon Prime, which is where it was always meant to be until last year’s writers’ strike delayed its release and Amazon decided to fill a gap in its movie lineup. I predict that now that it’s available to watch at home, it will become a cult classic Christmas movie. At first, it will be a tongue-in-cheek favorite, but over time, laughing at the movie will end up slowly changing to laughing at the movie’s silly jokes, and you’ll try to be calm and aloof on the outside, but on the inside, I can’t wait to see Santa Claus in all his glory. I know because it happened to me.
