‘Red One’ Review: Dwayne Johnson & Chris Evans’ Slightly Absurd Christmas Action Comedy Commits To The Bit
deadline.comThe latest in an ongoing trend of action-packed Christmas movies, J.K. Simmons takes on the white beard from Kurt Russell, Mel Gibson and David Harbour in Red One, a $200 million Amazon MGM Studios streaming-turned-theatrical production that blends genres for some family-friendly holiday fun with a generous dose of self-aware absurdity.
The action comedy, which reteams filmmaker Jake Kasdan with his Jumanji leading man Dwayne Johnson, follows the latter as Callum Drift, the head of North Pole security, who is ready to retire just as Simmons’ Santa — code name: Red One — is kidnapped two days before Christmas Eve.
With the help of legendary tracker and “Level 4 Naughty Lister” Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), Callum pays a visit to a few Christmas folk legends come to life, in the form of Kristofer Hivju’s Krampus and Kiernan Shipka‘s Grýla, the Christmas witch.
The star-studded ensemble also includes Lucy Liu as Zoe Harlow, a Nick Fury surrogate for this mythological universe; Bonnie Hunt as a Mrs.
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