The embargo has lifted for Red One and most critics aren’t impressed with the Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans Christmas adventure comedy movie. Amazon MGM Studios’ Red One opens in United States theaters on 15,

Review: Jake Kasdan's big-budget 'Red One,' starring Chris Evans and Dwayne Johnson, is a disastrous bid at a Christmas franchise for Amazon/MGM.

Here's the bad joke of Hollywood Christmas movies. They tend to begin, and end, with a blast of old-school Yuletide cheer. But that's just a tease. In between, most of them make a point of straying about as far from the Christmas spirit as possible.

And it's not nearly as awful as it sounds. The film, which cost nearly $250 million to make, is an effectively constructed high-concept action-fantasy-comedy that waffles inconsistently between entertainingly imaginative and merely perfunctory.

The latest in an ongoing trend of action-packed Christmas movies, J.K. Simmons takes on the white beard from Kurt Russell, Mel Gibson and David Harbour in Red One, a $200 million Amazon MGM Studios streaming-turned-theatrical production that blends genres for some family-friendly holiday fun with a generous dose of self-aware absurdity.

The movie's shining light is JK Simmons as a muscly Santa who can easily do 500 press-ups in five minutes. He manages to sell the schmaltzy lines and is a great fit as Saint Nick in his second Santa movie outing following Netflix's exceptional Klaus. Unfortunately, the plot means he's off-screen after the first act and the movie suffers for it.

The Rock gets knocked silly by monsters and murderous snowmen in his bid to save Santa Claus in a festive film devoid of Christmas cheer 2/5 stars Christmas with The Rock is not nearly as much fun as one would hope.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s new Christmas movie, Red One, has been labeled a “festive flop” by critics in early reviews. Helmed by Johnson’s Jumani director Jake Kasdan and written by Chris Morgan – who wrote several Fast & Furious movies – the new action-comedy is about a kidnapped Santa Claus (JK Simmons) whose top operative (Johnson) must team up with an accomplished tracker (Chris Evans) to find him and save Christmas.