RED ONE

Yesterday we watched RED ONE, the new Christmas movie with Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and J.K.Simmons. Simmons plays Santa as a thoughtful, tough, yet compassionate man rather than a jolly old elf. Determined to see the good in even the most obnoxious child, Simmons gives the role more gravitas and spunk than the usual Santa rendition. Dwayne Johnson as Drift, head of North Pole security, E.L.F., has lost the ability to see the child in others and after 500 years is ready to resign as commander of Santa’s security team. When Chris Evans’s character Jack Malloy, a thoroughly bad father and mercenary con man, uses his computer skills to track down Santa’s HQ under a hidden dome, he enables the Christmas witch Gryla, to kidnap Santa and steal his magic. Gryla, a shapeshifter, intends to misuse Santa’s powers to isolate everyone on the naughty list for eternity. She claims Santa’s mercy in not punishing misbehavior more seriously fails to teach the consequences of evil and contributes to today’s dysfunctional society.

There are a lot of layers to this movie. There’s the tension between retribution and forgiveness, the importance of belief in the possibility of redemption, the disillusionment continual carping and sniping, greed and selfishness bring, and the realization that our personal everyday choices have huge consequences. This futuristic take on the North Pole also mentions the roots of Santa Claus in Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, which I always appreciate. Although it doesn’t give Christ as Nicholas’s motivation, the saint does play into Simmons’ interpretation as his Santa is tough enough to punch a heretic in the nose as the original Saint Nicholas allegedly did at the Council of Nicaea. Even with touching moments of emotional connection and great action scenes, a scary Krampus, physical altercations, and some bad language make this movie a little edgy to be hailed as a new Christmas classic, especially for younger kids. Still, I thought there was a lot to appreciate in it and found it a worthy effort to help counteract the world-weariness waiting to assail us at this season.