Red One (2024) Movie Review

Red One (2024) Movie Review

In recent years, we’ve seen the return of the  Christmas Movie, with big hits like ‘Last Christmas’, ‘The Fatman’, ‘Spirited’, ‘Dear Santa’, ‘The Holdovers’, ‘Happiest Season’, ‘Violent Night’ and 2024s ‘Red One’. With a rise in the genre, we’ve been lucky enough to see some truly enjoyable films that capture that Christmas spirit and get us excited for the holidays. ‘Red One’ starring Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson, Chris Evans and J.K Simmons is one of the best additions to the crowded sub-genre in recent years. The film ozzes Christmas, blending family-fun, with action in a weird (in a good way), and entertaining way. The film whilst having a hefty price tag of $250 million, still managed to pull nearly $200 million at the worldwide box office, before dropping on Amazon prime just before Christmas, to capitalise on the seasonal joy. Now here we are, three months later, and the film has found its way to physical media, with a gorgeous DVD and Blu-Ray, physical media collectors rejoice!

As mentioned, the film has a star-studded cast, led by everyone’s favourite wrestler. Turned movie star, Dawyne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and follows the North Pole’s head of Security ‘Callum Drift’, who is tasked with finding Santa Claus (played by Simmons), after he has been kidnapped. He must team-up with naughty list regular, Jack O’Malley (played by Evans), to get Santa back and save Christmas. The plot sounds generic, but because of its Christmas cheer and likeable cast, you really don’t mind!

This Film was a lot of fun from start to finish. For starters, you have the likeable leads in Johnson and Evans. Both of which, have been knocking it out the park in recent years, proving to both be massive stars and box office draws. Evans trademark good boy look from the captain America and Avengers films, is turned in for, scruffy, hacker, which was a breath of fresh air. He plays the character with his trademark whit and charm, but with a bit more of a sarcastic edge that he hasn’t really shown with the Marvel films. It was fun to see him go back to his roots in a sense. The Rock is also known for his ability to dance between genres. He has tackled almost everything from action, to comedy, to drama, the only thing really missing is a horror movie. Here, he is the straight man, to Chris Evans whacky sidekick, and given the types of roles he’s been playing, this was fun to see that dynamic play out on screen. It really is a buddy-cop, Christmas movie, which is a lot of fun!

The other strengths here lie in the films Christmas setting. As I mentioned, it really does ooze Christmas. From the creative set-pieces to the Christmas decorations taking up almost every inch of the frame at any given moment. There’s Christmas carols, Christmas characters with Krampus, snowmen, Mrs Claus and of course the reindeer all making an appearance. The film feels like a great gateway film to more mature films for children. What I mean by this is, there is enough for younger viewers to get a kick out of, but the creature designs and action, feel more suited towards an older audience. Krampus did this back in the 2015, similar to films like Gremlins and Critters in the 1980s, creating a gateway film, bridging the family genre with the horror genre. I wish more films would take this approach and create edgier content for teens and younger audiences.

Overall, ‘Red One’ was an absolute blast from start to finish. It doesn’t reach the heights of some titans in the genre, but it still proves to be a good time and a memorable Christmas outing and one of the better Christmas themed films from recent years. The Rock and Evans are great together, making you want to see more outings with these two characters and the Christmas themed set-pieces are fun, unique and inventive. This is a great flick to add to your usual Christmas rotation and should hopefully become a contemporary Christmas classic for years to come. Be sure to secure your copy on DVD or Blu-Ray from Sanity today, you won’t want to miss it!

For everything else pop culture, make  Sanity your one stop shop, show their tens of thousands of titles on  DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD , not to mention their wide range of  Music, Board Games, video games, statues and collectibles and so much more! 2025 promises to be stacked full of great releases, so make sure you sign up to Sanity's Newsletter, so, you don’t miss another major release and for all things movies, music, merchandise, Sanity!

Long live physical media!

Buy Red One Here!

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here