“Violent Night delivers on its wild premise and then some, and offers a bloody-good Christmas action movie.”
There are pros and cons.
It isn't the first film to give an R-rated Santa Claus story, but it is one of the best if you like the idea of jolly old St. Nick engaging in a bit of old ultraviolence. David Harbour is the bearded, gift-giving avatar of Christmas in Violent Night, a film directed by Tommy Wirkola. Santa finds his Christmas routine disrupted when a gang of thieves target a mansion he is visiting during his holiday rounds.
There are contents.
Santa is forced to cut, stab, and destroy his way through a horde of mercenaries in order to save a young girl trapped in a house. It's a wild premise that could have easily been overplayed or underexecuted, but Violent Night manages to maintain a clever, entertaining balance between humor and hard-hitting action.
It isn't the aim of Violent Night to be subtle, it's the aim of its influences.
The movie's recipe borrows from other Christmas movies. One part Bad Santa, one part Die Hard, and one part Home Alone, Violent Night drops them all into a blender with a hefty pour of spiked eggnog and Harbour's charming charm, then purees it all into a cocktail strong enough to make the holidays enjoyable for even the most cynical
It's easy to get laughs in Violent Night, which never takes itself too seriously, as Harbour delivers holiday-themed catchphrases while defeating one villain after another in increasingly gruesome fashion. The phrase "Santa Claus is coming to town" takes on an entirely new weight when Santa Claus growls into a phone.
The film seems to revel in barreling its way through one holiday- and action-movie trope after another, sometimes deconstructing the absurdity of them, and sometimes leaning into them with clever alterations or twists. The film's spin on Home Alone-style house defense offers a little bit of both, for example, showcasing the more realistic, gruesome potential of the traps set by Macaulay Culkin's character in the 1990 film, while also putting a fresh spin on how a child might act The humor comes from watching villains get their comeuppance in cartoonishly violent fashion, just like it did with Home Alone.
Harbour was cast in the role of a hard-drinking, hard- living Santa Claus prone to relieve himself off the side of his sleigh while flying above cities and stealing from the liquor cabinets of sleeping homeowners. His actions and attitude make it hard to like him. His Santa is a lot like his character in the show, who hides his frightening potential when the chips are down.
The film Violent Night is similar to Die Hard in that it plays to Harbour's strengths, but it also plays to his weaknesses. Both Harbour and Willis have the same action hero vibe, and both have similarities to Die Hard. There is a scene where Harbour's Santa has a weary heart-to-heart over a walkie-talkie with the girl trapped in the mansion.
It is a fine source material to draw from, and Violent Night does so early and often, while avoiding slipping into parody or too-familiar territory.
The rest of the Violent Night cast is able to find the middle ground between playing the premise straight and acknowledging the silliness of everything surrounding them.
The film's primary villain, code-named "Mr. Scrooge", doesn't reach the high bar set by Hans Gruber or Home Alone. The level of difficulty in matching that sort of spectacle is always going to be high, even though Leguizamo is having fun with the role.
The adult children of a wealthy family matriarch are portrayed by Beverly D'Angelo and Alex Hassell in the movie. The siblings' respective partners, as well as the teenage "influencer" son of Patterson's character, share more than a little in common with Judy Gemstone.
With so many holiday films out there already and more released every year, it is hard for any film to stand out.
If the idea of a surly Santa Claus with anger issues taking on a team of Christmas-hating mercenaries seems appealing, Violent Night will be worth a watch. Thanks to its talented cast, clever creative team, and a premise that it fully commits to from the beginning, it is more likely to exceed expectations.
It feels like a Christmas miracle that Violent Night exists, and it is as entertaining as it is. Merry Christmas!
It is in theaters now.
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