When done well, a trailer can play a big part in building anticipation for an upcoming movie. It’s equally true that a bad trailer can squash any excitement you may have for the film it’s promoting. Sadly the latter is true for “Red One”, a $250 million Christmas themed action-adventure-comedy that looked significantly cheaper in its trailers. But if anyone could overcome rough first impressions it’s Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and JK Simmons, right?……..right?

Well, not exactly. “Red One” starts off promising and has some original ideas of its own. But most of its potential is quickly smothered out by the overall uninteresting story, uneven dialogue, and an endless parade of unimpressive digital effects that fall well below the quality you would expect from a $250 million movie. Worst of all, “Red One” seems to have an identity crisis. It clearly wants to be a kid-pleaser. But there’s enough profanity and violence to rule out smaller children. And it’s far too silly for adults. So who is it for?

Director Jake Kasdan (whose movies range from “Sex Tape” to the Jumanji sequels) and screenwriter Chris Morgan (the Fast & Furious franchise) incorporate and expand on well-known Christmas mythology. They also create a lot of their own – too much in fact. Kasdan and Morgan may earn points for imagination, but none of their additions help make “Red One” any more memorable. And no matter how hard they try (and they really try), nothing they do is able to generate the Christmas cheer they’re going for.

Johnson plays Callum Drift, the commander of the North Pole’s security force known as E.L.F. (Enforcement Logistics and Fortification). For decades Callum has served as chief protector and close friend of Santa Clause (Simmons). But he’s grown disillusioned with the state of humanity. When news breaks that for the first time in history there are more people on the Naughty List than the Nice List, Callum decides to retire after Santa’s upcoming Christmas Eve run.

But his retirement plans are put on hold after a black ops squad infiltrates the North Pole’s defenses and kidnaps Santa on the day before Christmas Eve. Callum contacts Zoe Harlow (Lucy Liu), the director of M.O.R.A (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) whose resources lead them to Jack O’Malley (Evans), a dark web bounty hunter and hacker who also happens to be a “Level 4 Naughty Lister” (*gasp*).

After learning Jack inadvertently led the soldiers to Santa, they recruit him to help track down the mysterious person who hired him. After a numbing battle with giant snowmen on an Aruba beach and a Nick Kroll appearance that quite literally goes nowhere, it’s revealed that the culprit behind it all is Grýla, the Christmas witch (Kiernan Shipka). She’s intent on ridding the world of everyone on the Naughty List by imprisoning them in magic snow globes. And she needs Santa’s magic to do it.

Kasdan and Morgan at least make an effort to inject a heartbeat amid all the big budget dressing. The crude and irresponsible Jack attempts to reconcile with his son. Callum looks to find his Christmas spirit. But none of it comes across as authentic. And that’s the biggest problem with “Red One” as a whole. It all feels like a big studio project plucked right off the assembly line. And no amount of star-power or big screen charisma is able to overcome that.

To be fair, the story does pack a few laughs and there is some decent buddy-movie chemistry between Johnson and Evans. But the film can also wear you down. Look no further than a grueling tavern scene where Callum and Jack duke it out with Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), Santa’s estranged brother and Grýla’s former lover (yep, you read that right). In the end, a lot less of that and more humanity would have made “Red One” a much better movie.

VERDICT – 2 STARS