‘Lifeless’ and ‘grim’ A-list Christmas film debuts disastrous Rotten Tomatoes score-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

Festive action movie Red One has been a sore disappointment (Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures/ Amazon MGM Studios/ Universal Pictures)

The newly-released festive adventure movie, Red One, starring Chris Evans and Dwayne Johnson has been widely panned by critics.

The ‘globe-trotting, action-packed’ plot follows the head of North Pole’s Head of Security Commander Callum Drift (Dwayne) who teams up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter Jack O’Malley (Chris) to rescue Santa (code name: Red One) who has been kidnapped.

The movie landed in UK cinemas earlier this week as we hurtle toward the most wonderful time of the year.

And there were high expectations pinned on the star-studded film which reportedly made history by offering Dwayne a $50million (£38million) upfront fee – believed to be the highest for a single actor.

Unfortunately, it looks like the investment may not have paid off as critics’ reviews of the movie – which also stars J.K. Simmons as Saint Nick – have resulted in a poor Rotten Tomatoes showing of only 35% at the time of writing.

And the complaints are wide and far-ranging.

The Times called it ‘one of the worst abominations’ and ‘gross, grim yuletide yuck’ in a scathing one-star review.

‘I’m sorry to say that Red One is a slog that lacks any of the charm that might have saved it,’ TheWrap added.

CityAM echoed: ‘ Red One trudges its way through a soulless plot toward an inevitable conclusion with little reason for seasonal cheer… there’s little reason to get roped into this lifeless caper.’

Digital Spy complained: ‘For a movie set in a mythological world, it’s disappointingly generic for the most part, offering up things we’ve seen before from Krampus to evil giant snowmen.’

And IndieWire scathingly concluded: ‘Red One will make you not only bummed about the holidays ahead, but about cinema’s future as well.’

Critics are not the only ones wholly disappointed in the Christmas-themed romp. As fans headed to the cinema to catch the Prime movie on the big screen, many were left underwhelmed.

People complained of ‘zero chemistry’ and a ‘soulless plot (Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures/ Amazon MGM Studios/ Universal Pictures)

‘#RedOne is genuinely one of the worst films I have ever seen. The visuals are atrocious, the dialogue is bland and unfunny, the usually talented cast has zero chemistry,’ @rxbeccajohnson wrote on X.

‘Baffling, lifeless & genuinely dispiriting combo of trad meaning-of-Xmas tale & fantasy pic,’ @dwill_crackfilm described.

The movie was co-written by Chris Morgan and Hiram Garcia and directed by Jack Kasdan.

Jack had nothing by praise for Hollywood star Dwayne, telling EW: ‘I believe that he’s a singular film presence.

‘And if it’s the exact right thing for him, then he’s able to do things that really nobody else can do, and you can’t picture anyone else in a part that he’s played.’

The filmmaker also shed light on how he tried to strike a balance between action and festive cheer.

He explained: ‘A big part of it was trying to figure out how to bring in all of those Christmas elements, even in this slightly edgier, more aggressive kind of action-comedy and let them resonate on their own.’

This included making the reindeer into giant beasts and turning the North Pole into a metropolis, described as a ‘giant, industrial, magic, Christmas capital’.

Red One is in UK cinemas now.

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