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The opening premise of Red One is that Santa Claus is kidnapped the day before the Christmas Eve ride. Then the odd couple of Callum Drift, also known as Cal, (Dwayne Johnson) and Jack O'Malley (Chris Evans) must figure out where Santa was taken and save him before its time for his famous ride, this after Jack had provided the location of Santa to the kidnappers.

There is a secondary plot of Jack dealing with his relationship with his son, Dylan (Wesley Kimmel). Ultimately, they are brought together by the villain, Gryla(Kiernan Shipka). Gryla has kidnapped Santa so she can punish ALL the people on the naughty list.

"We choose every day who we want to be. With big decisions and little ones, and every one of them matters." This is the core lesson from Red One. At it's core is the idea that every choice, big or small, matters.

Be prepared for a not so nice Chris Evans character. At least, at the start, this is a Christmas movie after all. There is a scene where Jack shows he may not be as naughty as he seemed. This happens in a scene where Cal and Jack end up meeting Nick's adopted brother, Krampus (Kristofer Hivju). Jack steals something and Cal and Jack are brought before Krampus. Krampus was going to let Jack go and O'Malley could have left Cal to his fate. Instead he manipulates Krampus into a situation where they can escape together after brawling with Krampus and his minions.

It's a very fun, heartwarming, action-adventure comedy. It has humor that almost all ages will find encouraging and fun.

It has some steampunky elements like the toy duplicating machine and Santa's sleigh. Most of Santa's tech could be considered steampunk. In case you are wondering what steampunky means, think weird science...

One interesting take is that Santa is NOT a fat man. You have to admire J.K. Simmons' workout routine.

There is quite a menagerie of other myths and folklore. These folklore creatures are handled by the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority(MORA). Director Zoe Harlow, played by Lucy Liu, is laser focused on finding Nick. The following is just a small sample of creatures: Talking polar bear, trolls, and even the Headless Horseman. 

I'm not a critic so don't expect a detailed breakdown of writing, acting direction, cinematography, music, etc. There are some really good effects like the snowmen and the reindeer, which are actually Meglaceros Giganticus! There isn't a lot of music, just a few modern covers of a couple Christmas songs.

Overall I consider Red One to be a very good Christmas movie. It's also a good odd couple movie. I like the chemistry between Evans and Johnson. I can actually see J.K. Simmons as the real Santa, he projects the kind of energy I would expect from St. Nick. It deserves better than the 33% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. At least the people rated it much more reasonably at 96%.