Red It combines action, fantasy and Christmas, but it missed a key element of every successful Christmas movie and ended up suffering for it. Directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Chris Morgan, Red follows Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), commander of the ELF (Enforcement Logistics and Fortification) and therefore responsible for the security of the North Pole. On Christmas Eve, Callum faces the biggest emergency of all: Santa Claus (JK Simmons) being kidnapped by a mysterious figure who has invaded the North Pole.
The initial investigation leads to Jack O'Malley (Chris Evans), a hacker who was hired to break into the security of the North Pole without actually knowing it was the North Pole. Callum reluctantly teams up with Jack to find and rescue Santa Claus and together they discover that the person behind his kidnapping is the winter witch Gryla (Kiernan Shipka). Red It was not well received by critics, but was much better liked by the general public, but despite its strengths, it missed a fundamental part of every successful Christmas film, which ended up affecting it.
Red One is sorely missing having children as main characters
Red One only has one son and he is not the main character
Despite being a Christmas film, with Santa Claus in the middle of the central conflict that puts Christmas at risk around the world, Red is surprisingly missing children as main characters. The North Pole has a bizarre array of characters working around the clock to make sure Christmas goes smoothly and perfectly – from seemingly immortal humans to talking animals like polar bears and penguins – but there are no children around. Of course, it's understandable that there wouldn't be children at the North Pole and around Santa's workshop, but there are no children as main characters in the rest of the world. Red.
The only children's character in Red is Jack's son, Dylan (Wesley Kimmel), but he's not the main character and doesn't do much in the film. Jack and Dylan are estranged because Jack doesn't really know how to be a father and often ends up missing visiting days, school events, and more. Jack missing Dylan's Christmas recital is the last straw for the latter, who angrily calls Jack to ask why he isn't there and why he sent him a snow globe - however, it was sent by Gryla to imprison Dylan.
Dylan is important to Jack's story and development, but he is not the main character.
Jack takes what he was given to save his son, and they have a heart-to-heart while trapped in snow globes in Santa's old workshop. This conversation softens them, alters their relationship, and makes them “nicer,” freeing them from the snow globes… and that’s all there is of Dylan. Dylan is important to Jack's story and development, but he is not the main character.
Kids are essential to Christmas movies — especially those with Santa Claus
Children are characters in Christmas stories
While it's not a rule that all Christmas movies feature children as the main characters, they have become an essential part of them. Many Christmas movies, like Alone at home and How the Grinch Stole Christmas rely on children to tell their stories and add some extra fun to them, and even films that are not centered around or aimed at children include them in their casts and play a key role in adding warmth and fun to the story, as happens in Christmas with the Kranks and The holiday.
Most importantly, Christmas films that also include Santa Claus in any capacity have children as the main characters – after all, They are the ones who keep the Santa Claus tradition alive and those who receive gifts from him. Red it's a Christmas movie and Santa Claus is the main character, but there are no children in active roles in the story, and even Dylan falls more into teen territory than kid territory. Furthermore, Red is also a comedy, but it didn't feel necessary to add children for that extra Christmas charm, joy and touch of comedy.
Red One focused on adults rather than children and suffers for it
Focusing on adults was not a wise idea for Red One
Instead of having children as part of the main cast and an active part of the story, Red focuses on adults, and this ends up affecting them. Callum and Jack are going through personal problems that have affected their views on Christmas: Callum has lost the ability to see the good and wonderful in people, and Jack simply can't see the good in anything anymore and has lost his mojo. . At the end of RedJack regains his wonder after rescuing Santa and reconnecting with Dylan, while Callum is able to see the wonder and magic of Christmas again.
Children would have been the most affected by Santa's kidnapping and Christmas not happening.
Red ends up being a Christmas movie for adults, and that's a big reason why it didn't appeal to most viewers, since the story would have worked better with children as the main characters – after all, they are the ones who would have been most affected by Santa Claus being kidnapped and Christmas not happening. However, Red was still successful, but it would have performed much better if it had children in its main cast.