Red One

Story

Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) has never believed in Santa. As a child he didn’t care what anyone thought of him and saw no harm in being ‘naughty’. And now, as an adult, he works as a tracker for random clients on the dark web.

When Jack unwittingly sells his latest information to a witch called Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), a 900-year-old shapeshifter, who will stop at nothing to punish all the people she believes are bad, she uses the information to launch a well-planned attack on the North Pole and kidnap Nick, aka Santa (J.K. Simmons), just days before Christmas.

Nick’s bodyguard and right-hand man, Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), has just resigned because he can no longer see the inner child in the adults around him and is struggling to find the good in those he’s meant to help. However, determined to find Nick and save Christmas, Callum uses Jack to help him track down Gryla.

With Christmas rapidly approaching and time running out, the pair find themselves fighting for their lives and freedom after paying a visit to Nick’s estranged brother Krampus (Kristofer Hivju). When Jack and his son Dylan (Wesley Kimmel) are both targeted in Gryla’s attacks, Callum is led to the last place he would have thought to look and Jack learns that it’s never too late to do the right thing. With the odds against them, can they find a way to free Nick and save Christmas before the whole world is imprisoned by a witch?

Themes

Family breakdown; witchcraft; magic; apathy; crime; disillusionment with people, the world and life

Violence

Red One has some violence. For example:

A man is tripped over by 2 dogs on leashes.
Jack steals newspapers, coffee, a key card, and candy from a baby.
Jack purposefully starts an electrical fire and burns a Christmas display.
A man is punched and knocked to the ground during a boxing match on TV.
Two agents are knocked off their snowmobiles during a high-speed chase as property is damaged and bridges are destroyed.
Callum drops onto a car and is knocked off as it blasts onto a bridge.
Callum chases a vehicle on a snowmobile and causes an avalanche in his attempt to stop the vehicle he’s chasing.
Dylan confesses to slashing the tires on another kid’s bike.
Characters are kicked, hit, shoved and pushed as Jack fights off a group of agents who try to paralyse him with stun guns.
A character is hit in the crotch and pushed through a window.
Jack is shot with a stun gun and then reinvigorated with another gun.
A large polar bear shoves Jack into and out of his chair.
Callum kicks a character in the crotch and rapidly adjusts his hand size to enable him to fight his attackers more efficiently.
Mention is made of a man’s head imploding across the beach.
Snow monsters try to slash Jack and stab Callum with a knife.
Callum slices the body of a snow monster in half.
Jack melts a snow monster’s face in a grill, causing it to mutate and change.
A snow monster stabs a man through the chest with a large knife, causing ice to slowly surround him.
A snow monster strangles Callum. Callum grabs its carrot nose, causing the monster to die.
Jack explodes a snow monster using the gas tanks on a grill.
A character hits Krampus in the face. Krampus responds by punching the man backwards into a wall, where he falls down unconscious. The man is later shown with a smashed and bloody face.
Callum hits Krampus in the face and Krampus responds by knocking Callum to the floor. With help from Jack, Callum gets one good punch in.
Two boxing robots punch people out of the way. Krampus tears both robots apart.
Callum punches a shapeshifter in the face and knocks him out. While unconscious, the character transforms into his true self.
Santa’s reindeer try to fight off a group of shapeshifters.
The shapeshifters attack Callum and Jack.
Gryla whips the reindeer and a large polar bear slams shapeshifters together.
Gryla tries to strangle both Jack and Callum as she attempts to get a sleigh full of globes airborne. She throws Jack to the reindeer and Callum into a pile of snow globes.
Jack frees the reindeer, causing the sleigh to crash down. Gryla flies over the edge of a bridge and falls, screaming, towards the city below.

Sexual references

Red One has some sexual references. For example, upon arrival at a tropical beach, Jack checks out a woman wearing a string bikini. He watches her with interest as she walks away and says that he’ll marry her.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Red One has some substance use. For example:

Adults drink at a Christmas party.
Jack is shown passed out in a bathtub next to empty alcohol bottles.
Jack admits to driving with a hangover.

Nudity and sexual activity

Red One has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

Multiple women are shown on and near the beach wearing string bikinis. Their bare bottoms are exposed.
Two creepy, witch-like creatures stroke Krampus’ bare chest.

Product placement

Red One has some product placement. For example:

Monopoly is shown and displayed.
Hot Wheels cars are repeatedly mentioned, used and transformed.
Wonder Woman action figures are mentioned on occasion.
Essential oils are repeatedly mentioned, though no brand is promoted.

Coarse language

Red One has some coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Red One is an action-packed, holiday adventure, featuring a star-studded cast, lots of special effects and a fast-paced, predictable plot. The movie contains valuable messages about the choices we make and the importance of never giving up. The movie is best suited to viewers over 12 years.

These are the main messages from Red One:

Every day we have a choice about who we want to be.
Every decision, big or small, is an opportunity to do good and to leave the world a better place.

Values in Red One that you could reinforce with your children include compassion, courage, teamwork, helpfulness, forgiveness and persistence.

Red One could give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like:

making good choices
the ripple effect that our decisions, both good and bad, have on those around us
trying to do our best even when no one else is watching.