Title: Red One (2024) Director: Jake Kasdan Rating: PG Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Comedy Duration: 2hr 4mins Stars: Dwayne Johnson • Chris Evans • Lucy Liu • J.K Simmons After Santa Claus (J.K Simmons) gets kidnapped, Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), commander of Santa’s Security Team must join forces with independent hacker and bounty hunter, Jack O’ Malley (Chris Evans) to find him before Christmas Day. At its core the film, is about bringing Christmas cheer back to the world, helping people during the hard times. Red One with its action-adventure packed scenes and cheesy Christmas dialogue could easily be a heartwarming holiday addition, if it did not contain suggestive themes. The film does not seem to know its audience. Initially, Red One has what you would typically expect from a Christmas movie, consisting of themes of hope, faith, love and as well as the duality of life. But as the story progresses, there are certain scenes that are unsuitable for children. For instance, in a resort scene, Jack O’ Malley is inappropriately checking out a woman wearing a bikini. Then there’s a scene cut of profane words. Very uncharacteristic for a Christmas movie. When it comes to acting, Dwayne Johnson does not seem to have a lot of range when it comes to playing characters. A lot of films he stars in, he is casted as the stereotypical action hero and Red One is no different. On the positive side, Red One does bring an action-packed twist to a traditional Christmas story. The concept of the North Pole being a technologically advanced society with supernatural creatures is refreshing from the usual setting of a magical village. Overall, Red One isn’t bad but it’s not necessarily good either and I would definitely not recommend it for children.