Directed by:
Tommy WirkolaCinematography:
Matthew WestonComposer:
Dominic LewisCast:
David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Cam Gigandet, Edi Patterson, Beverly D'Angelo, Leah Brady, Alexander Elliot, Brendan Fletcher (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint. (Universal Pictures US)
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Reviews (10)
A gang of killers decide to ruin Christmas for a dysfunctional family and only Santa Claus can save them, and the chubby bearded guy is definitely not afraid of violence. Tommy Wirkola may be a little slow to get going in his actioner, and maybe he plays a little too much with genres and Christmas clichés, but he manages to shift into the mode we love him in time. David Harbour is clearly in his element here, the action sequences are full of ideas and clearly shot, the humour is pitch black and the references to Home Alone and Die Hard are a delight too.
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In the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, when several dozen action films vied for viewers’ attention every year, the rule was that the way to distinguish one’s film from those of the competition was to include previously unseen attractions, or at least a unique screenplay, setting and overall visual or subgenre stylization. The filmmakers from 87North Productions consciously follow the Hong Kong tradition in many respects. Unfortunately, however, over the four years since they stopped being mere subcontractors providing choreography for action scenes and started producing movies themselves, they have reached a point where, instead of amazement and excitement, their films evoke only a superficially altered impression of something that has already been seen. This was inevitable, because unlike in the case of the major productions from the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, they have nowhere to grow. On the one hand, they have no competition, but no one will entrust them with bigger budgets that would enable them to further develop. Furthermore, they don’t have any stars other than Keanu Reeves who would devote themselves to the action genre, work on themselves and continually impress viewers with new stunts. On the other hand, it didn’t matter that Nobody is a variation on John Wick, because the film was carried by the excellent Bob Odenkirk. The same was true of Kate in relation to Atomic Blonde thanks to Mary Elizabeth Winstead and the pop-Japanese stylisation. Not to mention that in both of these cases the choreography worked with real physical aspects and a specific setting. But Violent Night not only comes across in its choreography as a derivative of the same company’s previous films, but the thing that is supposed to make it different is in itself derivative. The whole film blatantly paraphrases Home Alone and Die Hard, this time with Santa Claus himself battling the highly capable bad guys. Unfortunately, in practice this is all reduced to the insipid juvenile attraction of Santa cursing with a broken nose and a blood-soaked beard through most of the film. Of course, he also uses Christmas items like tree ornaments to eliminate his enemies. However, the film peculiarly comes most alive when it dispenses with the would-be shocking of American viewers stupefied by the illusion of Christmas and moves to the attic in the manner of Home Alone and to the tool shed in the style of Commando. But even these flashes of inventiveness (though still derivative) cannot obscure the desperate fact that David Harbour doesn’t have the charisma to carry an entire film on his own and that Tommy Wirkola is a master of gimmick movies whose final execution falls far short of the promise of their catchy concepts.
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While still thinning out the naughty list of this year’s Christmas, I tip my imaginary Santa hat to whoever said: "I have an idea to make the Christmas plot of Die Hard even more Christmassy!", before adding: "How about combining it with Home Alone?", in front of the madman who finally filmed it in a way that's not cringe-inducing but funny. Yes, at first glance, Fatman with Mel Gibson came up with something similar two years ago, but while I liked that holiday almost-action flick, it falls far short of the fun of Violent Night. David Harbour is flawless in the leading role, he enjoys Santa to the fullest and is very convincing in the action scenes, which have great choreography. The trailer doesn't give everything away, so in addition to all the imaginative shooting, punching, breaking, stabbing, screaming, drinking, eating gingerbread, bleeding and swearing, we also get a glimpse into Santa’s past or one of the climactic scenes that shows what Home Alone would look like if it were truly brutal. Of course it's not a non-stop action ride, that wouldn't work, or it wouldn't have anything new to offer soon, but even the moments of calm before the storm were rarely taken deadly seriously, and I liked them.
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Honestly, I don’t get why anyone would label this movie a horror. But whatever, it’s always fun to dive into Christmas spirit in July. I didn’t know much about the film going in, so I expected some adult version of Home Alone. The amount of violence early on was shocking, so I paused to check the director. When I saw it was Tommy Wirkola, known for his bloody films, it all made sense. For a Christmas movie, the kill count was impressive, though not as intense as Wirkola’s usual fare. The film nailed the American holiday vibe: tacky decorations, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, reindeer, a loving family, snow, and even Beverly D’Angelo. David Harbour made a fantastic Santa. Surprisingly, the child actors didn’t bother me, even though I’m not a fan of kids in movies. I loved how Santa remembered his roots predating Christianity and long before he became a corporate mascot. What didn’t sit well was Wirkola’s taming down for the mainstream holiday magic, happiness, love, and family values. It felt like he traded his usual gory fun for a big payday. / Lesson Learned: In the age of the internet, writing letters to Santa is pointless.
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David Harbour is half of the film. He was made to play the role of a kind-hearted Santa Claus with the roots of a bad-ass Viking. The mixing of motifs from Die Hard and Home Alone, which are Christmas cult classics in America, is the right way to join their ranks in different genre garb. Wirkola almost succeeded – he combines Christmas clichés with new ideas, the endangered family members are not cliches and the narrative flows nicely. It’s just a shame that Harbour doesn’t face any correspondingly interesting bad guys for whom we would have more respect.
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