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‘Red One’ Review: Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans in a Holiday Action Fantasy That Gives Christmas a Backstory It Didn’t Need

Dwayne Johnson is Santa's bodyguard in a holiday action fantasy that's the latest attempt to purge Christmas movies of the Christmas spirit.

The buddies here, who start off hating each other, are Cal, who’s been tasked with hunting down Santa’s whereabouts, and Jack ( Chris Evans), a degenerate sports gambler and derelict divorced dad who is also some sort of super-hacker. And that’s what allowed Santa to be kidnapped by Grýla, an ancient witch played by the always-welcome Kiernan Shipka, who ever since “Mad Men” I’ve thought (and still think) is going to be a major star — and this movie, in its blunderbuss way, shows why. They wind up in Germany in a medieval “Star Wars” cantina trying to save themselves from Santa’s estranged brother, the giant goat-man troll Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), at which point you’re either onboard or (in my case) starting to check your watch.

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