Dwayne Johnson’s “Red One” belongs on the naughty list

Instead, we are left with an action player that is weighed down by far too many scenes of carnage and mayhem. For all the mythical creatures and silly, comical special effects, “Red One” is less fun than it should be. Any warm and fuzzy feelings the film generates are instantly interrupted by an action sequence.

Johnson plays Callum Drift (what a name!), the leading member of the ELF, the North Pole’s answer to the Secret Service. For the past several hundred years, he has been Santa’s bodyguard. But this is the last Christmas season before his retirement. It seems the magical thrill that made his job so special is now gone.

Callum calls his friend and client Nick, but ELF refers to him by his code name, Red One.

While making final preparations for his upcoming famous sleigh ride, Nick is taken by an unseen enemy. The crew of criminals found the mysterious dome that hides Santa’s workshop, broke it and made off with St. Nick under Callum’s watch. This necessary sequence starts the first of an endless series of chase scenes.

The leader of the ELF, Zoe (Lucy Liu), learns that Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) was in cahoots with the kidnappers. He is the best tracker in the world and his last job was to track the location of the magic dome. Callum wants to beat Jack’s head off, but Zoe forces them to work together to find Santa.

“He can’t be trusted,” says Garcia (Reinaldo Faberlle), a giant talking polar bear. The reason? Like your humble reviewer, Jack is “on the naughty list.” Naughty or not, he’s still the best resource for the job. So “Red One” becomes a standard issue, cop buddy picture.

During their search, Callum and Jack encounter Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), the mythical figure who once followed Santa on his Christmas Eve rounds to punish those who didn’t make the list. Here he is Santa’s estranged and unemployed brother, the keeper of the suitably huge Naughty List.

Banished to his own world, Krampus passes the time by playing the game where the participants beat the hell out of each other until one person quits. We’re privy to several wasted minutes of Callum and Krampus beating each other silly. Hivju and Johnson seem to be having a great time, which lessens the tedium.

We also encounter the shapeshifter behind the kidnapping, Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), the Christmas witch who bears an uncanny resemblance to M3GAN, the twerking killer robot. She wants to make the world a better place by punishing all the naughty people on Christmas Eve. Suffice it to say, she’s going to be super busy.

Wherever you are, Gryla will immediately appear if you, to to paraphrase Destiny’s Child“say her name, say her name.” Of course, Jack can’t stop it, causing more chaos. Buff killer snowmen are just one of her many tools of destruction.

While “Red One” is a bit of a hit, it’s still better than about 98 percent of the Christmas movie junk that the studios and streaming services throw at us every holiday season. Johnson exudes his usual charisma and is at his most entertaining when aggravated by mere mortals.

As one of these mere mortals, Evans is a passable foil I found more annoying than endearing. The script by Chris Morgan tries to soften his mercenary character by giving him an ex-wife and a sullen child who resents his absentee father, but they are introduced far too late to be effective.

If a special effects Christmas play on Liam Neeson’s “Taken” series is what you want for Christmas, Kasdan and company will make your wish come true. I’d rather have the cool accessory Callum has on his arm, a gadget that can turn Hot Wheels toys into real cars and has the power to beat the horns of Alpine deities.

Even better, I want to ride in this movie’s version of Santa’s sleigh, a tricked-out sleigh pulled by reindeer whose antlers are on fire. It looks like it’s flying out of Valhalla instead of the North Pole. At least the trip would give me more time with Simmons’s St. Nick, the bright spot in this walkable picture.

★★

RED ONE

Directed by Jake Kasdan. Written by Chris Morgan. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, JK Simmons, Kiernan Shipka, Kristofer Hivju, Reinaldo Faberlle. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, Suburbs. 122 minutes. PG-13 (naughty in word and deed)

Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.