Whatever you’ve heard about Red One, it’s probably true. Is it the latest casualty in Hollywood’s quest to Marvel-ize any straightforward story it comes across? Yes. Is it overstuffed with self-serious Christmas lore and an abundance of yolked, stone-faced protagonists? Definitely. But it’s also, maybe, not as irredeemable as some might have you believe.
Sure, Red One is every bit the empty star vehicle that we’ve come to expect from Dwayne Johnson. It feels like the total sum of the actor-entrepreneur’s career choices, combining the tone of his better action films with the whimsy of a deeper cut like The Tooth Fairy. That makes for a film that’s not quite sure what it wants to be: an edgy movie for kids? A kids’ movie for adults? It’s anyone’s guess, but Johnson’s squeaky-clean schtick doesn’t entirely smother the film’s ambitions. It doesn’t boost its charm either, but still, maybe a middling Christmas comedy is a bit better than an outright trainwreck — especially in times such as these.
