Red One Movie Review: A Christmas tale that fails to captivate

In Jake Kasdan’s Red One, Santa Claus (JK Simmons) is part of the technologically advanced planet North Pole, protected by an elite organisation that includes Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), Santa’s personal bodyguard. Just before Christmas, Santa—or 'Red One'—goes missing, and Drift, along with the organisation’s director Zoe (Lucy Liu), must bring him back to save the festive season. While Prime Video’s film aims to conjure holiday magic, it plays more like a theme park ride weighed down by washed-out special effects, incoherent worldbuilding, shallow characterisations, and hurried storytelling.

Director: Jake Kasdan
Cast: JK Simmons, Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu
Streamer: Prime Video

The film’s antagonist, Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), is a witch with a thinly sketched agenda: trapping people with troubled childhoods inside Christmas-themed snow globe lights to 'purify' the world for others. It’s an intriguing idea on paper, but Gryla lacks depth, and the character arc feels nonexistent. Shipka, despite her talent, struggles to elevate this underwritten role, leaving little intrigue in her battle with Drift to rescue Santa. The generic visuals and predictable sequences—complete with Gryla’s shapeshifting team—further dilute the conflict.

A major disappointment lies in the misuse of JK Simmons. Despite the heavy marketing around his 'legendary' presence, Santa disappears barely ten minutes in, only to return during an unnecessarily prolonged climax. The film, inexplicably named after Santa’s character, makes frustratingly superficial use of Simmons’ charisma and acting range. For a story ostensibly about him, his role feels like an afterthought.

Much of the film’s runtime hinges on the banter between Chris Evans’ Jack O’Malley, a wisecracking recruit on the mission, and Johnson’s stoic Drift. Some of their exchanges, like a scene involving Krampus (Kristofer Hivju)—a half-goat, half-human monster—provide bursts of humour and charm. Evans’ attempts to talk his way out of trouble at Drift’s expense, followed by a hilarious payback scene, showcase the actors’ comedic timing and chemistry. Moments like these bring a welcome spark but are far too fleeting. For the most part, the film seems content with surface-level humour, easy pleasures, and overt Christmas nostalgia.

Tonally, Red One struggles to find its footing. The pacing feels erratic, as if stitched together from actors juggling multiple projects. A scene where O’Malley explains the bizarre goings-on to his son (Wesley Kimmel) comes across as painfully expository, betraying a lack of trust in the audience’s ability to follow along.

Attempts to inject emotional weight—like O’Malley’s reconciliation with his son or Drift’s realisation of his influence on children’s lives as Santa’s companion—feel half-hearted. These moments, though promising on paper, are undercut by hurried execution and lack of emotional build-up.

For all its $250 million budget, visual razzle-dazzle, and star-studded cast, Red One ultimately fails to deliver the kind of wonder a Christmas tale demands. It settles for spectacle when it should evoke warmth, joy, and magic. Not even Santa Claus can save this one.