Over the years, there have been hundreds of movies involving Santa Claus. I hazard to guess about the same number of stage plays and musicals where Santa is involved. There are good Santas, bad Santas, and Santas who need rescuing.
Red One was released on November 15th. Because of the poor attendance in the theaters, it was sent over to Amazon Prime on the first of December. Amazon gave an early Christmas present by making it free to the Prime subscriber.
When I see a movie go from the theaters to streamline in less than 90 days, I think the movie must not be very good. The one evening in the second week in December, out of boredom, I bit the bullet out of boredom and watch Red One. The movie pleasantly surprised me.
The 21st-century North Pole technology, the incorporation of mythological characters, and the feel-good way conflicts were overcome all left a smile on my face. I felt this was one of the best Santa Claus movies I had ever seen.
I don’t want to devalue the Rotten Tomatoes rating of 30% or IMDb’s rating of 6.6 out of 10. So, I watched Red One a second time and enjoyed it, along with picking up on some subtleties I missed in my first viewing.
When I shared my views about Red One to some avid moviegoers, they refused to watch it, saying the storyline was silly. I couldn’t understand why they didn’t like it. So, I watched Red One a third time. This time with some friends who were willing to take the risk. By the end of the movie, my friends were laughing and enjoying the movie more than I did the first time.
This is one movie, I must take a stand and say, “RED ONE is a Christmas movie well worth watching.” Even if you don’t like Rock Johnson, or Chris Evans. J. K. Simmons got me believing in a physically fit magical Santa. Lucy Lu pulled off the role of a secret organization administrator who will fight for what is right.
I have trouble seeing how anyone could watch this movie and feel depressed. Well, unless you happened to be a relative of the Christmas Witch. RED ONE has my vote for the best Christmas movie of 2024.
