I'm not really a fan of Christmas movies because they always almost have the same plot summaries; festive season, the season to spread love and cheers and yada yada. This is the reason why I carefully avoided movies that were released in the last quarter of the previous year because honestly I would be lying if I said I wasn't tired of the repetition.
However, this week, I came in contact with one of the movies from last year with its plot surrounding an important element of Christmas–santa. Seeing this movie felt like a breath of fresh air.
The title of the movie seemed like a bait to me because the title “red one” with Dwayne Johnson as one of the lead characters makes the movie seem like an extreme action movie with a lot of, well,… red blood.
After Santa is kidnapped from the North Pole on a Christmas eve, the commander of the Enforcement Logistics and Fortification(E. L. F), Dwayne Johnson, has to team up with the world's most notorious hacker in a bid to save Christmas.
Released on the 15th of November, 2024, Red one is a thrilling action comedy film. Directed by Jake Kasdan, the movie spans for 122 minutes and stars reputable actors like Dwyane Johnson, Chris Evans and Lucy Liu.
As a kid, I had wild imaginations because I believed in Santa, pixies and even tooth fairies. Two of my many imaginations centered around Santa and Christmas. I always wondered how Santa went round ‘the world’ in one night. Also, I wondered what could possibly go wrong to prevent Christmas and a few years later, a movie was produced in response to this imagination. This was one of the major reasons I was glued to my screen.
I absolutely enjoyed every bit and piece of every scene in this movie. This is because there was no point where I felt bored out of my mind or where I felt like I could directly predict the next scene. The scenes were spontaneous and when it comes to vetting movies, spontaneity is one of the check marks for me.
Although there were supernatural elements in the movie that may have contributed to some scenes looking phony, I think the supernaturality simply went in line with the plot because Christmas is allegedly a magical period.. Yes?
The characters, on the flip side, performed excellently. I'm used to seeing a majority of these characters in serious-nations-threatening action movies and I'm just glad they didn't slack in this film. Even the supporting characters played out their roles exceptionally. This is why I would like to give some accolades to the movie director, Jake Kasdan.
The cinematography was yet another astounding aspect of this movie. The scenes were extremely clear and eye friendly. This is, of course, courtesy of the cinematography. I would expect nothing less from a movie with a 250 million dollars budget.
Did I mention how much I enjoyed seeing this piece? The suspense, the action, the soundtrack and background songs, the interventions, the balance between comedy and action, everything was just right. I even had a few moments where I laughed out loud.
On closer assessment, Red One is more than a movie where a commander is trying to save Santa but it's also about the enduring power of hope when things seem not to be going smoothly, belief and coming together when the world seems divided. These themes may appear really subtle but are still apparent.
This movie was well worth the two hours I spent watching it. It was an exciting and interesting watch with a somewhat fresh perspective. The themes were clear cut and so were the messages. If given the opportunity to see this movie again, I would and this is why I would wholeheartedly recommend it to all and sundry.
The movie deserves a 9/10 rating as I saw little to no fault while watching it. If you're a fan of action movies, comedy or Christmas classics, this movie is a must watch. And if you're not a fan of any of these genres, the movie is still a must watch.
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