It may not be the miracle season of giving yet…but Hollywood has already released a Christmas movie. The release of “Red One” – directed by Jake Kasdan – on November 15.

The movie follows an E.L.F. (Enforcement Logistics and Fortification/Extremely Large and Formidable) operative named Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) who is set as the bodyguard of Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons), code named Red One.  After Red One is kidnapped by the Christmas Witch, Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), Callum must join forces with the Wolf (an infamous bounty hunter) known as Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans). Along the way, the pair come across personal problems, like retirement and father-son bond.

This movie was all right for being a Christmas movie. I think the producers picked a good cast, but overall I feel they could have done better. Along with Callum and Jack, there are several other characters introduced, including Red One’s adopted brother, Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), Jack’s son Dylan (Wesley Kimmel), Leader of M.O.R.A. (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) Zoe (Lucy Lui), and Mrs. Claus (Bonnie Hunt).

This movie does come with a bit of humor from Chris Evans character, but his character also has a “side plot” to the movie, trying to spend more time with his son and be a good father. The main plot of the movie is a bit confusing as the Wolf helps Gryla find Red One through another character and the characters battle it out with huge snowmen.

For possibly being the only Christmas movie set to release this year, I feel it did poorly. The sort of futuristic take on Santa is really cool, but the overall movie was really confusing and hard to understand. J.K. Simmons, however, acted the best for this movie by bringing out the character of Red One.

My final note on this movie is: I can’t say I wouldn’t recommend it because some people may enjoy this movie. The movie was decent, even though  critics slammed it.

2/5