Red One (2024) was poised to become the next big holiday blockbuster—starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and J.K. Simmons, with a massive budget and a premise that mashed together Christmas mythology and globe-trotting action. But despite all the shiny wrapping, the movie seriously underdelivered both critically and commercially, underperforming at the box office and leaving many viewers wondering: how did a film with this much star power and holiday appeal miss the mark?
The answer lies in a tangled mess of tone, logic, and storytelling choices that, while flashy on the surface, failed to respect the foundations of myth, character, and emotional weight.
The Pitfalls of Untethered Magic
At its core, Red One suffers from a kind of magical overreach. The world is bursting with Christmas tech and enchanted shortcuts—portals, weaponized snowballs, elves dropping toy cars that instantly grow into real vehicles—but none of it feels grounded. There’s no logic, no cost, no internal rulebook. When magic does everything, it ultimately means nothing.
The villain Gryla is introduced as an ancient, all-hearing force capable of possessing humans across the world with ease… yet somehow she still needs to hire tech hackers for grunt work. This sort of inconsistency tears at the seams of the story. Why does Santa still ride a sleigh through the sky if elves can teleport with ease? Why are security protocols treated like a joke in a universe where Christmas is clearly a high-stakes cosmic engine of belief?
Without grounded rules, the magic feels more like a child’s chaotic dream than a world we can invest in. The tension collapses, and with it, any sense of real stakes.
When Reinventing Icons Backfires
Another key misstep is the film’s approach to reshaping beloved archetypes without earning those changes. J.K. Simmons, while a talented actor, feels wildly miscast as Santa. Bulked up into a buff grandpa, this version of Saint Nick resembles more of a prepper gym coach than a symbol of wonder and warmth. And when characters are altered this drastically, it needs to be for a strong thematic reason—not just novelty.
But the most egregious case of miscasting comes with Gryla. Rather than embracing the folklore—a terrifying, bitter old witch who eats children—the film casts a sleek, sexy blonde in the role. She doesn’t radiate dread, envy, or spiritual decay; she looks like she wandered off a perfume commercial. And that robs the character of her essence.
A true villain like Gryla should be ugly, not just visually, but symbolically—an outward manifestation of inward corruption. Someone who wants to destroy beauty because they feel eternally alienated from it. Casting a glamorous figure in that role not only confuses her motivation, but turns her into a Marvel-lite antagonist without mythic presence.
The irony? That same actress might have worked perfectly in the role of the hacker—slick, modern, sharp. That would have been a better fit both visually and narratively.
Flat Arcs in a World Full of Chaos
Character development in Red One is as superficial as its magical logic. Cal, played by Dwayne Johnson, is the biggest missed opportunity. He’s supposed to be the top-tier Christmas operative, the protector of Santa himself, yet after the first successful breach in centuries—on his watch—he barely flinches. There’s no guilt, no reckoning, no meaningful journey.
A stronger version of this film would give Cal a full emotional arc. After failing to protect Nick, Cal would spiral—becoming desperate, snapping at his team, feeling the weight of a world that’s starting to lose hope. As Christmas draws near, and belief continues to fade, he would hit rock bottom. But in that darkness, he’d reflect, apologize, and finally reconnect with what he once believed in. That spark of rediscovered faith would allow him to see clearly—finally cracking the mystery and leading the team to rescue Santa not just with strength, but with purpose.
This arc wouldn’t just redeem Cal—it would re-center the movie around the emotional heart it so desperately lacks.
A Story That Adults Could Actually Believe In
The biggest tragedy of Red One is that it didn’t need to be this messy. There’s genuine potential in mixing action-adventure with Christmas myth, but only if the emotional stakes and narrative logic are treated with respect. By reimagining the characters with depth, grounding the magic with consequences, and honoring the psychological truth behind its villains, Red One could have been a rare gem: a holiday movie that works for kids and adults.
Instead, it feels like a child wrote a letter to Santa and a studio tried to film it verbatim.
Maybe next time, someone will take the sleigh reins and steer this kind of idea toward something more timeless—and far more magical.
Thanks,
Ira