Rating: 8.0
Premise: When a group of mercenaries attack the estate of a wealthy family, Santa Claus must step in to save the day (and Christmas).
•
Universal
Directed by Tommy Wirkola
Written by Pat Casey & Josh Miller
Cast: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson, Beverly D’Angelo
Runtime: 1hr 52min
Rating: 14A
Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
•
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%
RT Audience Score: 90%
Metacritic Score: 55
CinemaScore: B+
•
My Review:
Review Partially Written by Zoë Gatz
You better watch out, because “Violent Night” is not your typical Santa Claus movie! Its gnarly, violent, bloody and overall plays more like “John Wick” with a Christmas theme, or a more violent/gruesome version of “Home Alone” mixed with “Die Hard”! I gotta say, while it’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect from the trailer, it’s still a whole lot of fun and became an instant Christmas classic for me!
All you really need to know about the plot is that it involves Santa beating up terrorists. If this were “Die Hard”, Santa would be the John McClane… and I mean what more could you want?! Does that not sound like a fantastic premise? I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical going in as I worried it would feel like an overlong SNL sketch, but I was so relieved and happy to find there was a lot more to it in the end, and overall I really had an absurdly great time watching it! It’s a must see for this Christmas season; an amazing action comedy film filled with Christmas magic! You really feel the Christmas spirit while watching, from the themes covered to the awesome use of Christmas music, this wholeheartedly feels like a Christmas movie! It has a lot of heart too, especially due to the connection between the little girl and Santa… just felt right out of any classic Christmas film! I loved the portrayal of Santa here as well, and David Harbour was so well cast! I didn’t see David Harbour playing Santa, instead I felt like I was watching Santa Claus the entire time! I even loved how they brought in elements of Santa’s mythology, and crafted a bit of new stuff to explain his skills in hand-to-hand combat!
The action scenes were fantastic, and the kills were so creative and brutal in the best way! Some even had some awesome references to “Home Alone” traps! The creativity in the action scenes are what really makes this film stand out, it feels more like the old school “Die Hard” days of action instead of just another “John Wick” movie! There’s also a ton of great humour in it as well that completely worked for me! It kept a smile on my face the entire time, it’s such an absurdly enjoyable movie that is sure to be a new Christmas classic! It has that Christmas spirit feel to it, as well as a lot of bloody kills… what more could you want?! It is a must see this Christmas season!
Now, while I really enjoyed this film, my girlfriend seemed to be loving it even more than I was! So without further ado, here is her quick thoughts on why you should see “Violent Night”:
“Violent Night stays true to its name. It is gory, aggressive, and so entertaining! I do particularly enjoy some of the more violent movies out there so this might not be for everyone but I LOVED it. It’s a fun and thrilling action movie about Santa killing people to save a little girl.. what more could you want?
I don’t see David Harbour acting as Santa when watching this movie, I just see Santa Claus. He plays this role phenomenally and is 100% my new favourite Saint Nick. They could not have cast it any better if they tried.
The kill scenes were so brutal in the best ways possible! These have to be some of the best fight/death scenes I have seen in any movie. Each blow, slash, and strike felt like authentic fighting and not actors pretending to strike each other. All of the grunts and screams were also very authentic. It was so refreshing to see fight scenes that actually look and sound real!” (Thanks to the incredible stunt team behind the film!) “Now, some of them are far-fetched, yes, but it adds humour into such brutal scenes. The way this film can make someone cackle at someone getting brutally murdered is an art form in itself. I think its safe to say that watching the beloved Santa Claus viciously murder people with such passion was my favourite element (It helps that he was doing it for a good cause). In my opinion, it is a must watch just to see David Harbour in the role.
This movie has quite a few elements that could sell anyone on going to see it. There is passion, thrill, gore, love, betrayal, humour, honestly anything that could drive you to see a movie… it’s in Violent Night. It hooks you and you’re stuck. It stresses you out and makes you nervous while also creating moments where you can’t help but laugh. This movie is a must see in my books.”
Fun Fact: The writers originally wrote this as an Easter movie but were forced to quickly reset it at Christmas when star David Harbour refused to wear a bunny suit.
Comments