There aren't many holiday films out in theaters right now. It's very slim pickings compared to an article I saw about a combo of 60 plus films across two networks. Violent Night fills that void a bit and is surprisingly good. We do need more adult Christmas films. It's more humorous than you think and the action is given some thought. How you view the violent nature will vary.
David Harbour plays Santa. In this world, he loved doing his job of delivering gifts, but has become a drunk due to the amount of greed many adults and children have gotten. On his usual duties, he finds himself in Connecticut. A wealthy family is enjoying their festivities led by old matriarch Gertrude Lightstone (Beverly D'Angelo) when a group of mercenaries invade their home for 300 million dollars. The head man (John Leguizamo) will do whatever he can, but Santa is at the same house. With help from little girl Trudy, he preps for a battle he'll never forget.
It definitely is its own movie in some aspects. However, it feels as if it did its own take of Die Hard 1 and 2, along with Home Alone 1 and 2. The action aspect shows Santa kicking some serious ass in some scenes and getting beaten to a pulp in others. There is a human element to it and he makes a healthy John McClane look even healthier. Those scenes are choreographed well and the violence at points is goofy or pretty serious. The comedy is sprinkled all around. Santa's drunken attitude early on. Hearing Gertrude curse like a sailor and her family members trying to paint a good picture of the family.
It does get a bit sentimental with what Trudy wants and what Santa wants. With it being Christmas, they want things to be better from where they came from. Trudy has a bit of a Kevin McCallister vibe to her, which they do reference Home Alone a couple times. Traps do make Kevin seem a little more innocent compared to her. I expected violence, though it wasn't as dark as I thought. But you might. A couple cringe moments, but they may or may not for the viewer. The bad guys are a little over the top. You get a score that shows its Michael Kamen side, a bit of John Williams, and some of its own. The cinematography works well to its advantage and it's amazing how all this was done on a 20 million dollar budget.
The film does go at a decent pace. Like I said, the cringe aspects will vary on the viewer, which is the only major complaint I could see being a problem. But otherwise, Violent was surprisingly good. Get a chance to see it in theaters. We need more of these holiday movies that aren't strictly for kids.
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