Directed by Tommy Wirkola, Violent Night follows Santa Claus (David Harbour) who is called to action when an elite team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone hostage inside including a young girl who still believes in him and the true meaning of Christmas. With Santa Claus on the grounds, he’s about to show these mercenaries why this Nick is no saint.
This was probably one of the most out of nowhere films to be released this year just in time for the holidays. But ever since seeing the poster and trailer for this film I was immediately hooked just for how absolutely bonkers it looked. A dark comedy action film produced by David Leitch about a pissed-off Santa Claus played by David Harbour beating the shit out of bad guys? That is a combination I never knew I needed until now.
This film lives up to its title, delivering a highly violent but hilariously entertaining Christmas action film. This film has its laughs, brutal kills, and cheesy elements but it also delivers a surprising amount of heart that works in between the relentless carnage.
We are in an interesting time where big star-led action films, like John Wick, Nobody, and Bullet Train, have been frequently popping up and have been surprisingly great, reminding me of the era when we had plenty of these kinds of films in the 80s featuring big names like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. But unlike the films of the 80s, these modern action films feel very refreshing, and the spins the filmmakers have put on them deliver so much damn fun, and that is exactly what Violent Night does.
David Harbour is an absolute blast as this interpretation of Santa Claus but beneath the rough exterior is a man with a good heart. This Santa has spent a thousand years delivering presents and has grown weary of doing so over time due to a number of factors. This has allowed a very vulgar and violent side to come out that ends up being very bad news for those on his naughty list, who he wrecks in bloody holiday-themed fashion and it is absolutely hilarious.
But when he isn’t brutally bludgeoning someone with a sledgehammer or stabbing candy canes into people’s faces he is having very heartfelt moments in the film, especially with the young girl Trudy, played adorably by Leah Brady. Their connection in the film is flawless and David Harbour manages to deliver most of the film’s heart in unexpected ways, acting as a gentle soul to those worthy of it. I also really liked the brief bits of lore behind this take on Santa that explain his brutal nature.
The rest of the cast does a great job in adding to the film’s overall dark comedic tone, including John Leguizamo’s villain, fittingly named “Mr. Scrooge”. Like Harbour, Leguizamo definitely had fun playing this role and going all in with the premise no matter how silly it may seem. He may look like your typical heist leader villain that wants to get the score, and seemingly hates Christmas, but he does actually have a surprising reason behind what he is doing and ends up living up to his alias in ways I didn’t expect. Granted, it’s not exactly a complex reason, but it is one that works and relates to certain themes in the film.
The film’s narrative is very surface level and isn’t exactly deep in any way, causing it to be cheesy in some places, but that in no way stops the film from being highly entertaining and extremely funny, and it hit really well on its heartfelt moments. This is a bare-knuckle, bloody, Die Hard-inspired action film with Santa at the end of the day and that is probably what most people wanted and will get.
But there is more that it does offer that I think people will really like or love, a facet that separates it from past dark comedy Christmas films that attempted to be heartfelt in some areas but failed to do so. The strongest element of this film is easily the action and the technical elements of it. As well as being bloody fun and unhinged, it’s also extremely well crafted and choreographed. Considering David Leitch’s involvement with the film in terms of production it doesn’t surprise me that the action was on point and filmed so damn well, giving great laughs and making all the hits go hard.
The mix of practical and CGI effects in the action is done really well too, enhancing the entertainment value hugely. On top of that, there is some great cinematography that enhances the action and allows for lots of holiday-themed visual gags to play out, adding to most of the dark comedy.
The music of this film surprised me the most. Yes, we get a soundtrack full of different Christmas songs by various artists but we also get a score by composer Dominic Lewis that consists of orchestral renditions of well-known classic Christmas songs that all sounded really, really good and were very fitting for this film in all its moments.
Violent Night is definitely watchable and for those who have been looking for one hell of a Christmas action film, this is it. It has heart and it was made with heart. I’m going to give Violent Night an A = 96.
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