It was bound to happen one day and that day has finally come. Santa goes the full John Wick and takes down bad guys like toy soldiers. That is essentially what the pitch must have been with this latest festive film, Violent Night. Like the title suggests, which is a simple but genius title as well, this is a Christmas film and an action film combined into one. We’ve had plenty of action films before set at Christmas whether it is Die Hard or Shazam!, but we’ve never had Santa doing the action before. He’s a jolly fella who personifies love and joy, but we finally see him deliver some intense and blood-soaking kills in Violent Night, something definitely outside of his comfort zone.
The plot for Violent Night is relatively simple, a recently separated couple are spending Christmas together at his mother’s house for the sake of their young child Trudy who is played here by Leah Brady. The Lightstone family inside their mansion soon come under attack by a band of robbers who are led by John Leguizamo's character who goes by the moniker of Mr. Scrooge, and has henchmen who are all named by festive-related objects too, and it is Mr. Scrooge who wants to rob the house on Christmas Eve while a bitter and drunk Santa Claus happens to be visiting at the same time. Santa is played by David Harbour, who has played some badass characters of lately in films such as Black Widow and on television with Stranger Things, and he is perfectly built for the role of Santa, let alone a more action-packed Santa. Santa must battle Mr. Scrooge and save Christmas.
The plot isn’t what the film is sold on, it is the simple premise of Santa beating up people with some gruesome deaths from the company that provide the stunt-work for films such as Nobody, Atomic Blonde, John Wick, Bullet Train and Birds of Prey. So expect a lot of inventive kills, non-stop “one shots” of Santa killing goon after goon and some wince-inducing moments too. It’s fun and creative and as a fan of action films I was impressed by the level of action this film has. Just don’t go taking children to see this film as the deaths are quite near the knuckle! Sadly, the tone is all over the place, it feels like a family drama in places with Home Alone references and then there’s the more adult-orientated action which does feel out of place compared to the domestic storylines. Not all of the supporting characters play any significant roles and there’s not a lot of likeable characters but it is Trudy Lightstone who is the standout character in the film.
There’s not a lot of depth to Violent Night either, we get into the backstory of how Santa became who he is, slightly, and we get references of Mrs. Claus and the Elves at the North Pole but the emphasis is more on Santa. Like I said before this film is clearly sold on the idea of seeing Santa kill some very bad people who are on his naughty list. There is some comedy and some light-heartedness mixed in, but I believe the filmmakers were very conflicted over what kind of film this should be, despite the title. Saying that this is a fun flick and there is a lot of opportunity to tell more stories based on this iteration of the legendary Father Christmas.
★★★☆☆
3/5
Violent Night is action-packed and explosive. There are bad guys being hit by a giant hammer, people getting impaled by stars and some strategically placed traps which take down a couple of more goons. These kind of deaths are what makes the film work, but the characters aren’t memorable enough or likeable enough for you to care about whether they live or survive. Stay for the action, but don’t expect much of anything else. David Harbour and Leah Brady do shine and seeing their chemistry on screen is what makes this film worth watching.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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