A combination of Sunshine, Street Kings and The Losers made Chris Evans a favourite actor of my youth. His performance as Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World only solidified his comedic chops, and although he took up the shield in the years between, Snowpiercer made me believe that Evans could balance the popcorn with the thoughtful.
Since his years as Captain America, though, Evans's filmography has been a bit disappointing — and not because his movies have been particularly bad (well, okay, some of them are pretty bad, like Ghosted). It's that his choices, save for Gifted, have been glossy affairs and mostly uninspired. Such is the case with his latest, the Dwayne Johnson-led Red One.
In Red One, Santa Claus (played by the buff and tough J.K. Simmons) is not only real, but a mythological creature who has existed for multiple centuries and has an estranged brother, Krampus (Kristofer Hivju). Santa, of course, given his importance to the world, has a dedicated security team called Enforcement, Logistics and Fortification (E.L.F., because Christmas), led by Callum "Cal" Drift (Johnson).
Two days before Christmas, a team infiltrates the North Pole (it's hidden in a Wakanda-like dome) and Santa is kidnapped. As it would turn out, a dark web hacker (also referred to as a mercenary and a bounty hunter), Jake O'Malley (Evans), sold the coordinates to an anonymous buyer without realizing who or what he had discovered. After uncovering Jake's part in Santa's disappearance, Cal finds him and the two go off on a jaunty crusade to find ol'Saint Nick.
Films like Red One require a lot of suspension of disbelief, and that's fine. It's Christmas, and flights of fancy are more than appropriate to get us into that seasonal cheer. Red One has Ant-Man-like technology where little toys can grow big and big things can go little, abominable snowmen who collapse when their carrot noses are pulled out of their faces, the back room of toy stores being used as portals into other toy stores around the world, and even an entire winter witch who can hear her name being whispered from any corner of the world. I can even get past the fact that a hacker somehow has Captain America-lite fighting skills.
Each of these elements builds a world that turns kiddish Christmas tropes into edgier preteen fodder, and that does seem to be the group that Red One has its sights set on. A demographic who has grown out of their child-like wonder but can still appreciate a Cap and the Rock buddy action-comedy without much depth. The problem is, this film extends itself well beyond its already goofy premise to fill a two-hour running time that will undoubtedly make for a restless young audience.
When the action is going and Evans lets that Boston accent fly free, Red One is a moderately entertaining Christmas-themed romp. There are quippy jokes, the obligatory heartfelt Christmastime lessons learned, and a decently fun mythology (the Headless Horseman's appearance is a highlight for me); had the film simply been that, the film would have succeeded in its goal. But director Jake Kasdan takes generous liberties in the quiet moments to elongate what could have been a tight 90-minute genre film, rendering Red One a stilted movie that will probably be forgotten before December even arrives.
As for Evans, Red One becomes another film in his career that underserves him as an actor. He's no Lawrence Olivier, to be certain, but we've seen him deliver excellent performances that challenged him and made him better. For whatever reason, Evans seems content to make movies that he could pull off in his sleep; while I don't love comparing actors in this way, it's hard not to look at his Captain America co-star Sebastian Stan and marvel at the interesting choices he's made in his career beyond being Bucky, even if those choices didn't always work out.
I'd love for Evans to take chances like he did earlier in his career with movies like Puncture, a film that didn't do well critically or commercially but was a lofty swing that Evans excelled in tremendously. Until then, we'll have to settle for the safe Chris Evans. The one who makes Christmas movies that are like a festive brass bell: shiny and pretty, but nevertheless hollow.