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[COLUMN] Red One is a Christmas Marvel - and Not in a Good Way | by Darren Mooney
🕑 Added 2024-11-15 15:00:16 +0000 UTC
Note: This piece discusses the plot of Red One, including the climax. So be warned.
For a movie trying so hard to evoke the Christmas spirit, Red One feels strangely soulless.
Early in the film, “Nick” (J.K. Simmons) goes undercover as a mall Santa Claus in Philadelphia. He explains that this is a way to retain some tangible connection to the current generation of kids. After all, he is the real Santa Claus, an immortal being who lives in the North Pole. It could be very easy for him to slip out of touch. It’s also invaluable market research. Through his boots-on-the-ground investigation, he is able to determine that the video game Vampire Assassin 4 is very hot this year.
Red One is the product of a similar impulse, even if it feels like nobody working on the film has actually interacted with a child. Red One seems deliberately engineered to appeal to some abstract concept of a younger audience, aggressively tailored towards what studio executives have determined to be their interests. It’s the Yuletide equivalent of that infamous leaked Sony email about The Amazing Spider-Man that wondered “if there’s an EDM angle somewhere with Spidey.”
Red One was produced by Amazon Studios, at a budget of $250m. Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson reportedly pocketed $50m of that, the highest upfront fee ever paid to a Hollywood actor, to star as Callum Drift, the head of Nick’s personal security detail. Johnson seems to have exerted considerable influence on the project: it was written by Fast and Furious franchise veteran Chris Morgan and helmed by Jumanji: The Next Level director Jake Kasdan.
Red One lacks a clear identity of its own. Instead, it’s a pandering mess of half-formed ideas about things that “kids these days” presumably like. In particular, Red One is very transparently an attempt to make a Christmas superhero movie in the mode pioneered by Marvel Studios, joining other clumsy franchise attempts to apply that formula like the Mortal Kombat reboot or Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Virtually every decision in the film can be traced back to that impulse.
These superhero aspirations are, for example, obvious in the casting. Johnson was, after all, the actor who changed the hierarchy of the power in the DC Extended Universe – albeit not in the way that any one intended. Johnson is joined by Chris Evans, who will always be known for playing Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the MCU). Evans’ Jack O’Malley is introduced as a cynical operator, but inevitably turns out to have a heart pure enough to save the day.
Red One lifts several elements from specific superhero films. The film’s version of the North Pole is hidden behind a camouflage dome that opens to welcome Nick’s sled and populated with beautiful spires that cannot help but evoke Wakanda from Black Panther. Drift has a bracelet that shoots rays which allow him to effectively turn toys life-size. While he insists that there are rules governing the use of such technology, even the visual language recalls the Pym Particles from the Ant-Man movies.
Like the MCU, Red One is built around the weird pseudo-rationality of Clarke’s Third Law, framing its magical conceits as hyper-advanced technology. There are a lot of color-coded energy blasts and a very literal-minded approach to this imaginary world. There is also a lot of bureaucracy and acronyms. A significant portion of Red One takes place in the sort of generic militarized warehouse and offices that that characterized movies like The Avengers.
The world of Red One is rigidly defined and codified. The magical world is defined largely through acronyms. Zoe Harlow (Lucy Liu) heads M.O.R.A., the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority, and seemingly has the world’s leaders on speed-dial. Drift works for E.L.F., which stands for Enforcement, Logistics and Fortification. The characters investigate U.M.D.’s, or Unauthorized Magical Displays. Callum explains to O’Malley that magic is regulated by international treaty.
Red One leans heavily on lore, in much the same way that modern comic book movies have come to be built around fan service and easter eggs. When Drift explains that Nick has a brother (Kristofer Hivju), albeit adopted, O’Malley sets up the big reveal, “So, does Santa’s brother have a name?” Drift pauses for dramatic effect, as if he’s introducing Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) on The Rings of Power. “His name is…” Suspenseful pause. “Krampus.” Give the audience a second to pinch the air.
It’s all paint-by-numbers. O’Malley’s character arc builds to a scene where, trapped in a snow globe and composited against what looks like a computer-generated screensaver, he apologizes to his son (Wesley Kimmel) for being a bad dad. At the climax, just as things appear bad for Nick and Drift, Krampus shows up to heal the rift with his brother. Henry Jackman’s score feels inspired by a temp track that liberally deployed John Williams’ Jurassic Park and Alan Silvestri’s Avengers themes.
Indeed, Red One doesn’t just lift actors, production design, plot elements and music cues from modern superhero movies. The film’s tone is very heavily influenced by the MCU. In particular, there’s the same winking irony that undercuts any meaningful attempt at sincerity. Most of the jokes in the movie consist of Evans sarcastically reciting the plot. When O’Malley is told he’s “a Level-Four Naughty Lister”, the punchline is O’Malley repeating those exact words in a knowing tone.
While this smirking humor is ultimately just a reflection of the larger structural issues with Red One, taken on its own merits it is perhaps the movie’s single greatest flaw. What is the point in making a holiday film that is embarrassed at the possibility of being sincere? Why expend any effort or energy into making a family-friendly Christmas movie that seems deathly afraid that it might seem corny or silly? Why try to be “above” it? If a film about Christmas can’t be earnest, why bother?
Even aesthetically, Red One is recognizable as a modern superhero movie. It is part of the larger trend of what might be described as “the DILF-ification of Santa”, along with the casting of Kurt Russell in The Santa Chronicles and David Harbour in Violent Night. As played by Simmons, Nick is properly jacked. An early sequence focuses on Nick hitting the gym in his private residence – which looks like a penthouse – as Christmas Eve approaches, with Drift spotting him.
This isn’t relevant to the plot. Nick is not an action hero, and doesn’t get any major action beats. As such, it’s just an illustration of the weird modern depiction of male bodies riven by superhero films. This muscular aesthetic extends beyond Nick. At one point, Drift and O’Malley square off against an elite team of snowmen assassins in Aruba. For some strange reason, these snowmen all have six packs sculpted into their abdomens. It’s never explained. It is not even acknowledged. It just is.
This all exists in the larger context of the film’s hyper-militarized framework. “Red One” is the codename that Nick’s protection detail have given him, evoking Secret Service codenames. On his return flight from Philadelphia, it’s revealed that Nick has parked his sled at a U.S. army base. He shakes hands with a friendly general (Darryl W. Handy). It’s a very strange choice. Does Santa Claus really need to be part of the American military-industrial complex?
When Nick is abducted by the wicked witch Grýla, who has been given a suitably sexy upgrade as Kiernan Shipka, the intruders are wearing winter camouflage. Drift chases an all-terrain vehicle through the snow, but even the intervention of “Skate Team Six” is not enough to apprehend the fugitives. Later, Drift realizes that the chase was a decoy and that Grýla and her goons never left. “The North Pole’s been taken”, he reports, stopping just short of saying “North Pole Down.”
It is all incredibly militarized. This is a sentence that is as strange to type as it is to read, but it cannot be emphasized enough: Red One is effectively a post-9/11 Santa movie. To be clear, this doesn’t seem to have been intentional. It’s highly unlikely that this was a conscious thought running through the minds of Morgan and Kasdan. Instead, it is the inevitable endpoint of so shamelessly copying the template and tone of this generation of superhero films, which were shaped by the War on Terror.
This militarization goes hand-in-hand with the film’s emphasis on industrialization. These are two sides of the same coin. The North Pole is no longer a rustic operation. It is a gigantic industrial enterprise. As he contemplates his retirement, Drift visits the old grotto, which is part of a public display. Above the door, there is a reminder: “Where it all began.” In a sense, Red One does to Christmas what Amazon has done to brick-and-mortar shops. It’s a scale business. Bigger is better.
There is an irony underpinning this. Red One is a shameless attempt to apply the modern superhero blockbuster template to a holiday movie, in a craven attempt to engineer a streaming hit that will resonate with younger audiences. However, it also feels painfully out of touch. These past few years have not been kind to this sort of superhero spectacle. Even allowing for successes like Deadpool & Wolverine, the genre is going through a box office drought.
Do kids want a Christmas film that feels like a rip-off of a template that is arguably past its sell-by date? Is this stuff what interests children? If this template appeals to anyone, it seems like it was tailored for a millennial audience that is already well into adulthood. One gets the sense that Red One would have been smarter to take a leaf from Nick’s book, to go out into the field and to actually engage with its intended audience.
As it stands Red One doesn’t seem like anything that anybody has on their Christmas list.
Comments
melchar
While I think the movie was definitely made by pouring in a batter of mostly predictable plot elements that sought to hit all of the expected movie beats, the writing mob generally did a good job IMO. But boy oh boy did you call it for coming across like no one involved had ever either been a kid or had anything to do with one. The movie disappointed me with ALL the military hype. You pointed out how much of it relies on the Marvel superhero framework & once said - you’re right 100%. Once arriving at the North Pole happened, I was reminded of how the first ’Santa Clause’ movie handled the Worksop, its personnel - and did such a better job of it.
melchar
When it comes down to it, Christmas is a marketing gimmick itself. IMO the first 80% of the movie works - as long as you don’t think about it too much. The ending is weak & childish in a disappointing way. However it has been well advertised & serves as a ’safe’ family holiday movie.
Darren Mooney
The Rock took a big chunk of this one. I imagine Evans also got well compensated. Outside of that, I don't know how much the usual reasons apply: the "throw bodies at it!" VFX crunch to hit release as the director and producers "pixel-fuck" the hell out of the movie, endless reshoots, expenses accrued by having Evans and Johnson on the payroll that don't count as salary, technically. (The leaked budget for "Black Adam", for example, included a lucrative partnership with the Rock's tequila company, which reportedly both upset producers (it's a family movie) and also effectively funnelled more of the movie's budget to him.)
Darren Mooney
Oh, it'll be all over your Prime page when it hits streaming, I suspect. And with links to the Christmas shopping pages. The theatrical release is most likely a concession to Johnson and Evans.
Darren Mooney
Yep, it becomes much more pronounced after "The Avengers." And, look, I am the last person who wants to pay Whedon a compliment - for various reasons. But he is very good at what he does. And you can tell when Whedon-esque dialogue comes from somebody like Whedon and when it's very much just "a thing these movies do." In "The Avengers", that Whedon banter is there, but it's also very obvious what each character brings to the dynamic. The only time that Steve Rogers actually feels like a guy frozen in the mid-forties is when Whedon writes him. ("There's only one God, ma'am, and he certainly doesn't dress like that," is one of the best lines in the MCU for establishing the tension of throwing these characters together. I also do love the "language!" gag in "Age of Ultron", too.) In contrast, there's a sequence in "Infinity War" of Quill, Strange and Parker arguing on the surface of Titan, and there's no way to tell which character is saying what, because they are all generic quipsters. (I picked a three-person example, because you can generally eliminate the target of a given zinger, but that still leaves two possible candidates.)
Cerulean
Haha! Yeah. I just re-watched a bunch of the MCU through Endgame, and that Whedonesque tone gets louder and louder throughout, until in Endgame you're whiplashing between mockery and interminable selfie bits and big moving sacrifices, and it's jarring. So this has been on my mind. It worked for the MCU (for a long time, anyway). All the tonal copycats, not so much. And it's in Thedas now, so I'm extra cranky about it.
KingDead42
I'm really confused as to the point of this movie. If it's supposed to be "bragging rights" on having a really expensive movie on their service, why not advertise it more? If they just want to fill out their catalog, why not fund 3 or 4 other movies?
NeonTech
Not sure how this has a 250mil budget it looks like such a generic film i do not get holy wood budgets these days tbh.
Darren Mooney
I wonder if that's it. It is arguably shrewder than what it <i>feels</i> like to me, which is simply that this is a movie aimed as teenagers, assuming that teenagers in 2024 are the same as teenagers in 2008 or 2012.
Darren Mooney
... I can kinda see that point. Whedon is definitely Gen X and Gen X culture was defined by a certain sort of detached irony that evolved from contempt to selling out to having contempt for those who had contempt for selling out because nothing matters. But this particular brand of blockbuster filmmaking - while undoubtedly the work of filmmakers who belong to Gen X - is very much tied to millennial audiences. The MCU launches in 2008, and while it's not the only example of it or even the first example, it is the example that codifies it. By that point, Gen X is largely out of the 18-34 demographic that makes up the bulk of the movie-going audience, just as millennials are ageing out right now in real time. That's why I associate it with millennial audiences. (And, to be clear, I say this as a millennial and with no sense of pride.)
Darren Mooney
To be fair, this an Amazon production. This is all just pocket change to them. It's the magazine rack at the checkout. I suspect that how much money this movie - in particular - makes is largely irrelevant. It's an integrated marketting object. It's a way to get the Rock selling Prime Day or to bring parents and kids into the Amazon eco-sphere in the run-up to Christmas. It's less a movie that a marketting gimmick. Which is maybe why it feels so hollow as a movie.
Darren Mooney
Very fair point, but I do try to think the best of these things. I try not to asume the worst, at least. It's maybe naive, but I do try.
Tim Wilson
As soon as I read the top video game was “Vampire Assassin 4” I was painfully catapulted back the noughties and early 10s when nobody making film or TV knew anything about video games or cared enough to check. Sounds like it’s the same level of effort spent researching the rest because I feel the target audience here is actually Dads who will drag their kids to see it because “it’s a Christmas Movie” that’s meant to appeal to them, but isn’t rated too high an age.
Cerulean
"If this template appeals to anyone, it seems like it was tailored for a millennial audience that is already well into adulthood." Whedon is Gen X and so is the anti-sincerity aesthetic in entertainment he popularized. Does it keep getting pinned on Millennials just because we were young while it took over everything? The template appeals to c-suite ghouls who want some of that MCU money, and think winking at the camera and "Well THAT just happened" dialogue are why Marvel did so well.
Jim Roberts-Miller
Here's the thing about a write-off though: It's not free money. It lessens your tax liability. That's it. It's not money coming in to the studio. You still spent those millions of dollars and have nothing to show for it. Enough failures still leaves you broke. You can't spend a write-off.
Pyrian
"It is all incredibly militarized. ... To be clear, this doesn’t seem to have been intentional." Really? The militarization of a movie literally named "Red One" isn't intentional? The trailers seemed to be 100% all-in on "Santa, but military".
Cameron Gore
They won't stop until the government stops allowing them to write off huge losses like this (Bat Girl comes to mind). We need a shake up in Hollywood like Lucus, Spielberg, Coppola, etc. did in the 70s.
Jack Philipson
Eventually, surely, if films like this keep bombing they will stop making them. Like, executives don't wake up in the morning and go "you know what I think I need to get the studio to lose several hundred million dollars". (Well, I assume they don't, although sometimes I do wonder what is possessing them to greenlight projects like this)
