Christmas Surprise: Red One

Why Red One is actually good...and how it gagged me with its message

What happens when you put Chris Evans, Dwayne Johnson, and Lucy Liu in a Christmas movie? Well, shake it up with a Christmas heist and a few excellent singers and you get Red One.

It is hard on these streets for a new Christmas movie, especially when you are aiming for a PG-13 audience. Everyone has their staples in the rotation…Elf, Home Alone 1 and 2 but never 3, The Grinch (Jim Carrey version or don’t talk to me). Is there room for any more?

Buckle up, tinseltoes.

When we went to go see this movie, I noticed the 33% on rotten tomatoes from the critics. It was either going to be a terrible treat or a holiday surprise, so I was in either way. Plus, the star studded cast had me intrigued.

Right away I can say the trailer focused too heavily on the CGI portions and not enough on the great chemistry of the star studded cast.

Meet Jack, a fatherless kid that grows up to be an absenteee father. Jack is an online tracker—whatever that means—and he can find you anyone and anything.

Meet Cal, a serious commander of E.L.F that is retiring from working with Santa. Why? He can’t see the good anymore. Too many naughty people.

Santa gets kidnapped—don’t worry, it’s not a spoiler.

But when he is, they trace it back to Jack. Now he has to help…save Christmas?