Dwayne Johnson’s Christmas movie called ‘charmless’ and ‘artificial’ in brutal first reviews

Johnson reteams with former collaborators for ‘Red One,’ an action-comedy about a kidnapped Santa Claus

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s new Christmas movie, Red One, has been labeled a “festive flop” by critics in early reviews.

Helmed by Johnson’s Jumani director Jake Kasdan and written by Chris Morgan – who wrote several Fast & Furious movies – the new action-comedy is about a kidnapped Santa Claus (JK Simmons) whose top operative (Johnson) must team up with an accomplished tracker (Chris Evans) to find him and save Christmas.

Red One also features Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt and Kiernan Shipka.

Despite a hefty $250m budget and an equally impressive cast, the movie appears to have been an overwhelming bust with critics.

“This holiday entry, which could almost have been called A Fast & Furious Christmas, is so ugly, artificial and overlong that it should cure kids of any belief in magic,” The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney lamented. “In any case, Red One is the equivalent of a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking.”

“If Red One were a disaster, it’d be more interesting. Instead, it’s a technically passable action-comedy transparently stitched together from parts scavenged from other movies,” Alison Willmore wrote for Vulture.

The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw found it to be “profoundly depressing and blandly sentimental,” while IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio called it a “charmless, level-four naughty-lister that will make you wish Christmas was canceled.”

Dwayne Johnson stars as Callum Drift in ‘Red One’ (Frank Masi/Prime)

Owen Gleiberman of Variety agreed, saying that the film “gives Christmas a backstory it didn’t need.”

Meanwhile, journalist Luke Hearfield tweeted: “Yeeesh! I don’t have the energy to sugarcoat it today guys, Red One is pretty bad.” Going on to question who the movie’s intended audience is, he added: “It’s so unsure of itself. The writing is lame, the CGI ain’t up to par, the cast chemistry doesn’t quite gel.”

The Wrap’s William Bibbiani, on the other hand, was a bit softer with his criticism, admitting: “I actually kind of like it.

“It’s a reasonably entertaining three-star blockbuster with some fun ideas, a game cast, and a brisk storytelling style that never runs out of steam. I was never especially impressed, but I was just enjoying the fact that they somehow turned this absurd elevator pitch into a functional, breezy, slightly above average action-comedy,” he said.

After a year-long delay, supposedly due to Hollywood’s 2023 joint writers’ and actors’ strikes, Red One is out now in UK cinemas and will be released in US theaters on November 15.