It’s that time of year again, folks! Christmas is around the corner, presents are to be delivered, cookies and milk are to be placed on the table near the tree, and most importantly, you better be on the good list instead of the naughty one. Santa Claus is coming to town and has a big job to do! Violent Night belongs in the category of those cheesy holiday-themed action/horror movies that no one is supposed to take seriously. The plots are always so simple, the amount of victims is immense, and someone dressed in a Santa outfit is running around racking up the kills. Except, Violent Night is a bit different and plays well to its strengths.
In this movie, Santa (David Harbour) is real and is out delivering presents to all the good boys and girls around the world. But this Santa is tired of these new children as they don’t appreciate the holiday spirit and only wish for all the materialistic needs they desire. The movie begins in England, where Santa is taking a much-needed break at a local pub and vents his frustrations with the youth today. A Santa worker and the bartender listens to him and, not realizing he’s the real deal, offer him kind words of advice, only to notice later that Santa is indeed real.
The movie then turns to Connecticut, where the Lightstone family prepares for a night together. This family is one not to root for. The Lightstone family are as dysfunctional as they appear and made even worse by the venom spewed from their mouths and their overall reprehensible behavior towards one another. We begin with Jason (Alex Hassell), the wonder boy of the family who obeys orders from his abusively cynical mother, Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo), who favors her son over her truly nasty and alcoholic daughter Alva-Steele (Edi Patterson). Hey, they all deserve each other and makes you wonder why they even bother to see each other over the holiday season. Oh, right, they are there to relish in the luxurious estate (which looks similar to the McCallister house) owned by the family.
Other members to mention are Alva-Steele’s annoying son Bertrude (Alexander Elliot), who is obsessed with his phone and lets his social media followers know how wealthy the family is. Alva-Steele’s new husband is Morgan Steele (Cam Gigandet), who is a wannabe action star who constantly flaunts how powerful and awesome he really is. But who cares about any of these characters anyway? They are so meanspirited and cruel to one another that the movie forces us not to care for them once the action gets underway. They are later taken hostage by a group of mercenaries looking to rob the family.
Besides Santa, one character we care about is Jason’s daughter Trudy (Leah Brady), who truly believes that Santa is real. With the evening ending, Jason is reminded by his estranged wife, Linda (Alexis Louder) that he forgot to bring Trudy to meet with Santa at the mall. To make good with his daughter, Jason locates a walkie-talkie in the basement and gives it to his daughter, and informs her that this is a way “to talk to Santa,” which serves to distract the child from the obvious tension between Jason and Linda.
Before the chaos ensues, we are subjected to an unnecessary amount of family drama, cruel insults, and truly hateful characters that we could care nothing about. Fast-forward a couple of minutes, and Santa has arrived at the estate to deliver the presents that he carries in his sack. The sleigh lands on the roof, and Santa uses Christmas magic to enter the house. Meanwhile, a group of mercenaries led by “Scrooge” (John Leguizamo) seeks to uncover a massive fortune hidden on the property. His numerous partners are aptly named after popular Christmas items.
Santa is busy enjoying his nighttime treats when he hears the commotion when the family is taken hostage and attempts an escape. His reindeer are scared off when gunfire is heard, leaving Santa behind to fend for himself. David Harbour is such a treat to watch and doesn’t play Santa in the stereotypical fashion. He’s tired of the job, tired of these young annoying kids, and actually wants out of the business of being Santa Claus. We briefly learn where he came from, which comes as a surprise, and once the mercenaries find him, they just assume he was hired to play St. Nick. Nope, he’s the real man, and Santa isn’t going down without a fight.
When not fighting, Santa finds the other walkie-talkie and converses with Trudy, who proves to her that he really is Santa through some really nice touching moments. Together they make a plan to save the family, kill the intruders, and save Christmas. What follows are moments of sheer brutal, bloody violence, hilarious lines of dialogue, and worthy fight sequences. Granted, I didn’t care for the plot, the mercenaries and their motives, and all the twists and turns in between. This is a movie with one purpose. Witnessing Santa kills the bad guys and save the day. On that note, the movie delivers the goods.
David Harbour brings his physicality to the role and has us roaring with laughter all the way through. He’s perfect in this role, and even though I only cared about him and little Trudy, the movie works on that level. Everything else about the movie is either pointless or adds to the runtime. Still, one must appreciate the references to other classic holiday movies such as Die Hard and Home Alone. The idea for this movie is clever enough, but the characters and overall plot are typical and dumb. Sure, the movie could’ve been much more, but the end result is more than enough to enthrall audiences to see David Harbour wear the Santa suit and pummel the bad guys to oblivion.
Score 3.5 out of 5
Violent Night is dumb fun. Even though the movie makes a serious tactical error in giving us hardly anyone to root for, Santa and Trudy are more than enough to invest your time in a bloody holiday escape. Who needs happy-themed movies when we can revel our inner violence and enjoy some good old-fashioned bad-guy killing at the hands of Santa? If you are familiar with director Tommy Wirkola, then you’ll get a kick out of this movie. Screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller have a working idea that could’ve used another rewrite, but considering the end result, I think audiences will get their money’s worth.
Besides, no one goes to see a movie like Violent Night and expects compelling characters, a sensible theme, or thought-provoking dialogue. We are here for the utmost in entertainment and Violent Night offers that in kills and moments of gut-busting laughs.
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