Warning: Major spoilers for 2024’s Red One.
Red brings together action, comedy, fantasy and the spirit of Christmas in a story about the kidnapping and rescue of Santa Claus, with a touching message behind every action scene. Directed by Jake Kasdan, Red stars Dwayne Johnson as Callum Drift, head of the North Pole’s Enforcement Logistics and Fortification (ELF) and therefore head of Santa Claus’s (JK Simmons) security. On the day Callum hands in his request to retire after Christmas, Santa Claus is kidnapped and Callum is determined to find him – but he can’t do it alone.
With the help of Zoe (Lucy Liu), head of the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority (MORA), Callum teams up with Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), a white hat mercenary hacker with many personal struggles, particularly with his son. , Dylan. Together, Callum and Jake discover that The person behind Santa’s kidnapping is Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), the Winter Witch, and she plans to wipe out Christmas and the North Pole. With the help of an unlikely ally, Callum and Jake find Santa and save Christmas, the North Pole and the entire world just in time for the holidays.
How Santa is rescued in Red One
Santa’s rescue is the main point of Red One
On Christmas Eve, and shortly after Callum leaves Santa alone, a black ops team led by a mysterious woman invades the North Pole and kidnaps Santa. With the help of ground and air transport, the team tricks Callum and successfully leaves with Santa. As Zoe discovers, Jack is just the last piece in a chain leading to the kidnapper, and so he and Callum travel to Aruba to confront the broker who hired Jack. The broker, Ted (Nick Kroll), reveals that he works for Gryla.
Callum suspects that Gryla is working with Santa’s estranged brother, Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), and so he and Jack visit him. It is revealed that Krampus was the creator of the Naughty List and also Gryla’s former lover, but despite all this, he is not involved in Santa’s kidnapping. After Gryla traps Jack and Dylan in one of her magical snow globes, Zoe finds Jack thanks to the tracker she placed on him, and she and Callum figure it out. Santa never left the North Pole, and Gryla’s lair is underneath the North Pole.
While Callum and Zoe rescue Jack, Dylan, Mrs Claus (Bonnie Hunt) and the rest of the stranded team from the North Pole, Gryla and her children escape with Santa as they are ready to put their plan into action – but they need them. Santa’s sleigh riding powers. Fortunately, Callum and Jack stop her and fight her while Santa remains unconscious, and when she transforms back into a troll, Krampus arrives with some reinforcements. During the fight, Santa recovers and helps them defeat Gryla, while also making peace with his brother.
With Gryla no longer a threat, the entire North Pole team rushes to get everything ready for the Christmas run, and Santa invites Jack and Dylan to join them. Not only are Santa, the North Pole, and Christmas saved, but Santa also gets a chance to mend his relationship with Krampus.
Gryla’s plan and defeat at Red One explained
Gryla is a mythological character
Gryla is not only the Winter Witch, but also a very ancient troll who can take the form of whoever she wants. Gryla also has many, many children, all of them shapeshifters, which makes it easier for them all to infiltrate the North Pole (one of them even posed as Mrs. Claus to try to fool Callum, but made a big mistake when talking about cookies). Gryla is very powerful, so much so that she can track down anyone who says her name and send her henchmen after them, like she does when Jack says his name in Aruba.
What Gryla wants is to get rid of everyone on the Naughty List and lock them up forever.and for that she needs a magical artifact and a machine in Santa’s old workshop beneath the North Pole. Said artifact is the “glaskafig,” a magical snow globe that traps anyone who touches it — but because the Naughty List is so long, it uses a toy duplicating machine in Santa’s old workshop to create thousands of these magical snow globes. . The next step in Gryla’s plan is to deliver the snow globes to everyone on the Naughty List using Santa’s sleigh.
Exactly why Gryla has the strong desire to get rid of the people on the Naughty List despite being a troll and a witch is not explained, so it is assumed that she is simply evil. As explained above, Gryla is stopped by Jack and Callum, who throw her off the sled, but she returns to fight them now in her true giant troll form. Krampus arrives and attacks her before trying to reason with her, but she attacks him back.
Only when Santa recovers and regains his magic does he call his reindeer to attack Gryla, causing her to fall into the pool of magical snow globes she created, trapping her in one of them. Zoe takes the snow globe where Gryla is trapped, which will be kept safely by MORA.
Why Callum wanted to retire (and why he decided to stay)
Callum Drift had a very action-packed “final” day of work
As mentioned above, Callum is preparing to retire from his job at the North Pole after centuries of working for Santa Claus. Callum has a very close and special relationship with Santa and Mrs Claus, and the reason is only revealed at the end of Redwith Callum simply mentioning throughout the film that he “I lost.” What is mentioned throughout Red and the increase in bad behavior in the world, which has resulted in a longer Naughty List. At the end of Redduring the Christmas rush, Callum watches Jack and Dylan share this experience together, with Jack regaining his admiration.
Callum sees Jack as a child again, and that’s what he’s lost: the ability to see the good and wonder in people.
Jack had been on the Naughty List for a long time, which made him a target of Gryla’s plan, but the whole experience of rescuing Santa, mending his relationship with Dylan, and going on the Christmas run with Santa brings about a big change. in it. Callum sees Jack as a child again, and that’s what he’s lost: the ability to see the good and admiration in people, which was a consequence of his disillusionment with the rise of bad behavior in the world. Realizing there is still goodness and hope in the world, Callum decides to stay with Santa Claus.
How Jack Saved Himself and Dylan in Red One
Jack grew closer to his son in Red One
Parallel to Santa’s rescue is the story of Jack and his son Dylan. Jack tells Callum that he was never married to Dylan’s mother, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have responsibilities as a father. However, Jack struggles with being a father, let alone being a good father, and doesn’t really connect with Dylanso much so that he doesn’t know how to talk to him. Knowing that Dylan’s kidnapping will interrupt Callum and Jack’s mission to find her, Gryla sends a snow globe to Dylan and another to Jack, with the former finding him first.
Dylan and Jack have a heart-to-heart about their relationship, which softens them up and makes them nicer.
Thinking it was some kind of gift to apologize for not attending the school event, Dylan angrily calls Jack and shows him the snow globe, causing him to get stuck in it and taken to Gryla’s lair. Jack takes the snow globe sent to him so he can be with Dylan, and their snow globes are placed next to each other. Dylan and Jack have a heart-to-heart about their relationship, which softens them and makes them nicer, redeeming themselves and eliminating them from the Naughty List. This causes their snow globes to break and they join Callum and Zoe on the rescue mission.
The true meaning of red explained
Red One is all about family and wonder
Underneath all the action sequences and funny moments, Red is a story about family – and different types of families. The most obvious is the story of Jack and Dylan, who, unfortunately, had to experience being trapped in a snow globe so they could spend quality time together and open up to each other. There is also the distant relationship between Santa Claus and Krampusas they are completely opposites when it comes to Christmas and who and how should be rewarded for their good and bad deeds.
Callum’s story is also a familiar one, as his family are his fellow ELF, the Clauses, and just about everyone at the North Pole.
Although Red doesn’t go into detail about Santa and Krampus’ relationship, at least they recognize each other after defeating Gryla, which is their way of making peace. Callum’s story is also a familiar one, as his family are his fellow ELF, the Clauses, and just about everyone at the North Pole. It’s not known what Callum would have done after retiring, but he would certainly have felt quite lonely. Jack also learned that he doesn’t need to isolate himself and burn bridgesand it’s safe to open up to people and new experiences.
How Red One Sets Up a Sequel
Could there be more of Callum and Jack?
Despite giving each main character a satisfying ending Red leaves the door slightly open for a sequel. Although Gryla was defeated, she is ultimately a troll and a powerful witch, so it’s hard to believe that she will remain in her snow globe in MORA until the end of time – plus, she certainly still has many more children who can plan your rescue and escape. There’s also Callum and Jack, an unlikely team but very effective thanks to their combination of talents and skills, so they could go on more holiday-themed missions together for MORA, and not necessarily for Christmas.
The North Pole may also experience many other problems and challenges besides Santa’s kidnapping. A lot of things can go wrong in a place as big, busy and important as the North Pole, especially when the holiday season begins. There’s also the big question of what they’ll all do once Christmas is over, which would make for an interesting sequel to Red.