I had low expectations for the movie Red One when I sat down with my big drink and popcorn. My favorite southern Ohio movie theater is closing, much to my dismay so we stopped by for festive fun and alongside the best popcorn in the area.

Red One is an action adventure Christmas movie – words that I never thought I would find myself typing. Yet, when we saw the trailer in the theater this summer, it looked intriguing enough that it seemed worth a try. 

To be clear, I look forward to seeing the Christmas classics every year. The Bishop’s Wife, One Magic Christmas, and the original Miracle On 34th Street are among my favorites. I especially like the older films and find too many contemporary Christmas movies poorly made. There’s still nothing better than Jimmy Stewart and his angel friend Clarence in the classic It’s A Wonderful Life.

Red One is a departure from all of those movies I like so well and yet, I enjoyed every minute of it. The premise is that Santa (played by JK Simmons) is a hip, fit, modern man who embraces technology in every aspect of his work to bring joy to all the children of the world. He is kidnapped and his head of security (played by Duane Johnson) is charged with bringing him back home. 

The North Pole is not a quaint workshop with tiny elves in this imagining. Instead it’s a beautiful modern city. I don’t want to say too much but the creators did a truly wonderful job imagining Santa’s world,  the helpers around him and how they all function in their world as well as ours. 

I laughed more than expected and found myself thinking some serious thoughts too. There are some wonderful lessons and true values in this movie that are thought provoking. Also, in a world of sameness, it was loads of fun to realize that the people who dreamed up this story had a fantastic time doing so. I give them a 10/10 for creativity. 

This movie was a delightful and perhaps timely reminder that Christmas should be fun and that sometimes we need to sit in a darkened theater and suspend disbelief so we can just be happy for a couple of hours. If any of this sounds remotely interesting to you, I suggest you go see it!