THB #619: Red One

The problem with Red One is Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle.

Dwayne Johnson stars in both. Jake Kasden directed both.

This film tries to walk a very similar tightrope as the one Jumanji: WTTJ walked so successfully. A family movie… but with an adult edge.

Here is the key difference. The original Jumanji was a family movie, but it was edgy and a bit scary for the little ones as it threatened the kids and had lots of scary animals. The original Santa Claus is not very edgy, not very scary, and definitely is not sexual.

Everything that is “wrong” about Red One - and the 30% on Rotten Tomatoes is just stupid - could have been fixed by 2 simple principles. Pace it up and tone it down for families. It should have been riding the edge of a G rating instead of pushing the edge of the R. They didn’t need it.

Here is the entire story - SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!

The Christmas Witch kidnaps Santa so she can cruelly punish everyone who is on or has ever been on The Naughty List. Santa’s body …