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It’s been a bonanza of a year for new Christmas movies, with Netflix, Paramount+ and Prime Video all releasing new festive efforts ahead of the holidays. The headline act of this year’s new Christmas movies is a certain $250+ million blockbuster called Red One, starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans. You may have spotted it in your local multiplex – though you probably walked past it on your way in to see Wicked, if the movie’s respective box-office figures are anything to go by. Still, Christmas is a time for second chances and a film that’s not worth shelling out $20 for at the cinema can be a different proposition when it’s on a streaming service – in this case Prime Video – that you already subscribe to.
Here’s everything you need to know about Red One, and the rest of this month’s seasonal releases.
What is ‘Red One’ and is it any good?
This big-budget blockbuster sees Father Christmas (JK Simmons) – aka ‘Red One’ – kidnapped and the North Pole’s security chief (Dwayne Johnson) and a ‘naughty-lister’ called Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) on a mission to rescue him.
It’s directed by Jake Kasdan, the man behind Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Bad Teacher and the two most recent Jumanji movies.
Prime Video and MGM’s big bet this December flopped hard at cinemas and arrives on streaming with mostly negative reviews. Currently languishing at 36 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s firmly on the naughty list for most film critics. ‘This is the big blockbuster of the week and it’s absolute crap,’ boo-hisses the UK’s Mark Kermode. ‘A distinctly joyless execution of a premise that’s supposed to overflow with imagination’ is AV Club’s verdict. ‘A joyless, testosterone-fuelled tempest that squanders a reported $250 million budget on a hailstorm of crummy CGI and a blizzard of bad vibes,’ writes the Toronto Star.
Not everyone hates it. There are one or two positive tweets out there, though you may need to look under a snowdrift to find them.
All the good new Holiday and Christmas movie releases and where to watch them
But there is good news, Christmas movie lovers! This year’s Santa sack of new entries to the festive canon has already been delivered, with Netflix’s snowman romance Hot Frosty and Lindsay Lohan caper Our Little Secret delivering the right kind of candy-corn fun, and the Die Hard 2-ish Carry-On providing festive thrills of a bloodier nature. Head to our list of new Christmas movies to get the full low-down.
The 51 best Christmas movies of all time.
The 50 best films of 2024.
