Red One is not perfect, but it shows that we need more action-packed Christmas movies.

During the holiday season, it’s common for two types of movies to emerge: the undeniable classics like Home Alone and Elf, and the avalanche of Hallmark movies, which have become a guilty pleasure for many. Streaming platforms are full of silly romantic comedies, and it often proves difficult to ignore them. Despite how predictable they are, there’s sometimes something appealing about those stories that serve as perfect background noise.

However, beyond the sweet romanticism, many of us agree that there’s a lack of action during these festivities. While some defend that Die Hard is a Christmas movie (and they are right), there aren’t many more options for pure action during this time. Personally, I feel we need more wild fight sequences and over-the-top action during the holiday season.

This is where Red One comes in. Despite its poor performance on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 33% critic score, the movie managed to entertain me. It allowed me to disconnect and enjoy a bit of uncomplicated festive action.

Just as we enjoy the sentimentality of Hallmark, there’s no reason not to appreciate a big, absurd action movie during Christmas. I consider Red One can be viewed as a guilty pleasure, similar to watching a romantic film like A Castle for Christmas. From the outset, you know it won’t be a classic like 2001: A Space Odyssey, and that’s perfectly fine.

Moreover, the film boasts an appealing cast, including Dwayne Johnson, Lucy Liu, Chris Evans, and Kiernan Shipka, along with JK Simmons portraying Santa Claus. It’s hard not to smile with that combination of talent.

While there may be those who scoff at me, I believe we should have more over-the-top action movies to rival the endless romantic stories being produced. Why not start pitting living snowmen against each other or something like that? Christmas is a time for joy and celebration, so there’s no need to take everything so seriously.

I appreciate the classic, critically acclaimed holiday movies, but there’s also room for those that make us think “Wow, that was stupid, I loved it!”

Give Red One a chance. It won’t be handing out awards, but it features a gigantic polar bear reminiscent of King Shark from The Suicide Squad, and that’s one way I’ve started to sell it.

Although the movie often doesn’t make much sense and can be a bit embarrassing in certain parts, it fulfills its purpose of entertainment. Sometimes it’s okay to lose yourself in the silliest, most violently unnecessary movie you’ve ever seen, and we should stop pretending that’s a bad thing.