Despite a poor performance at the American box office for its release during the Thanksgiving period, the Christmas action comedy had not finished rolling out internationally. And Prime Video announced its release at the last minute last Thursday. An operation which seems to trigger the enthusiasm of subscribers, given that the film has remained in first place among the most viewed programs since. But do we have to devote two short hours to discover Red One? Our answers below.
Who is in the casting of Red One?
For the film, Dwayne Johnson reunites with the director of the new version of JumanjiJake Kasdan. He shares the poster with Chris Evans, Lucy Liu and in the role of Santa Claus, JK Simmons. We also find, in a supporting role, the heroine of the series SabrinaKiernan Shipka.
Synopsis de Red One
After Santa Claus (Code Name: RED ONE) is kidnapped, the North Pole’s head of security (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter (Chris Evans) on a an action-packed mission across the globe to save Christmas.
CNET France’s opinion
At the center of the film, the kidnapping of Santa Claus and a treatment by the star screenwriter of Fast & Furious Chris Morgan should deliver a blockbuster film. In reality, there are quite a few ingredients that should work for him: a former kid on the list of naughty children, Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) turned small-time thief and hacker, finds himself on the path of an elite unit intended to protect mythological creatures, the MORA, led by Zoe Harlow (Lucy Liu). In order to save his skin, he must team up with Callum Drift, sort of head of the North Pole security unit.
In the reality of Red OneSanta Claus is a very organized superhero, and has organized his elves into a real city, and the enemies’ minions are snowmen landing on a tropical island. And Callum has infinite powers, such as transforming miniature cars into life-size racing cars, or even shrinking in size at will. On paper, delusional ideas, in reality sequences that lack enthusiasm or fun. The family film takes away from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson his main interest: that of castagne. An assembly of proven talents, including Lucy Liu, even Kristofer Hivju (Tormund in Game of Thrones) under a ton of successful makeup to embody Krampus, the film fails to give consistency to its characters. All that remains is the The Rock/Chris Evans tandem, poorly matched and onto which an absent father intrigue is grafted, in the spirit of holiday reconciliation. Dwayne Johnson does not let himself steal the show, the blockbuster is therefore an assembly of virtual environments more clinically flat than magical, of harmless jokes which manage to fall flat, and of fights and twists without ingenuity or interesting exploitation. If JK Simmons manages to stand out from the rest by giving a character to his Nick (Santa Claus), Red One stands out above all as an amiable failure, just good for spending an afternoon of pre-New Year’s Eve parties. And again.
What to see next Red One?
There are much better movies starring Dwayne Johnson that you can watch with Prime Video: A Family In The Ring (on the MGM+ channel), or one of the films Fast & Furious : episodes 5, 6 and 7 are available on the platform.
Carry-On : our opinion on the Netflix Christmas thriller
