Movie Review - Violent Night

Director: Tommy Wirkola
Genre: Action/ Crime/ Comedy
Runtime: 112 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Bevery D’Angelo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Cam Gigandet, Edi Patterson, Leah Brady, Alexander Elliot
 
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 50: A MOVIE SET IN WINTER
 
Description: When a group of mercenaries attack the estate of a wealthy family, Santa Claus (David Harbour) must step in to save the day (and Christmas)

Review: Father Christmas has lost his faith in ever more consuming humanity and as a result he is a bitter man now. Alas, it is Christmas Eve and duty calls. Cynical and under the influence of alcohol, he goes from house to house to delivering mainly computer games to spoiled children. His already rotten evening turns into a violent one when he calls on a giant mansion where a wealthy family has been taken hostage by a team of mercenaries. He inadvertently gets caught up in the commotion, but when he discovers that a young Trudy is in danger, he decides to join the fray

The story that follows can be describer as a cross between “Die Hard” and “Home Alone”, with Santa Claus and a lot more violence and gore. “Violent Night” is a dark and fun action comedy that relies mostly on its over the top violent fight scenes. The role of Santa Claus is tailor-made for David Harbour. And it’s great to see in how many creative ways he uses Christmas items as weapons to kill people. For me the highlight was the scene in the shed, with a perfect Christmas song playing along.

It feels absurd to see the beloved and cheerful Santa Claus so mercifully killing people, but trust me, it works. It’s not the formula of “so bad it’s good”, because this film is by no means bad. If you can appreciate it for what it is and just don’t take it too seriously, you will have a great time. It does loses its power a bit when you are following the family, because none of these characters are either interesting or likeable. Only the little girl Trudy is one that steals your heart. And even though it’s an action film, the moments between Santa and Trudy are heartwarming. If you can’t handle extreme violence, you should skip it, because the film is called “Violent Night” for a reason. No sugar sweet Christmas romances for me (okay, only “Love, Actually”), this is the type of Christmas movie I prefer.

Rating: 3,5/ 5