Violent Night review.
Violent Night combines comedy, action, and a surprising amount of yuletide sap to create a solid movie…but it won’t replace your Christmas classic staples anytime soon.
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Violent Night
Directed by Tommy Wirkola
Written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller
Starring David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Cam Gigandet, Alex Hassell and Alexis Louder
Violent Night Review
Violent Night delivers exactly what it advertises. It would be weird to call it Die Hard at a Christmas party…because…well…that is where Die Hard takes place. Now that I think about it both movies are centered around thieves infiltrating said party and taking hostages. But this one has Santa Claus in the John McClane role…so there’s that. Look…there’s a reason they keep making variations of Die Hard.
Thieves infiltrate a family Christmas party to steal 300 million dollars from a vault. They take the family hostage and appear to have everything under control. Little do they know…Santa Claus has come down the chimney on his yearly rounds…and he knows who is being naughty.
The concept is a simple one. Santa Claus, losing his faith in a world that has lost their belief in the magic of Christmas, must defeat the armed bad guys and save Christmas. For most of Violent Night we are treated to a decent comedy. There are genuinely hilarious moments interspersed with the family drama and Christmas beatdowns.
David Harbour makes a great Santa. He’s as believable in his fight scenes as he is in the quieter moments as a pained, tired man who is close to done with this whole Christmas thing. Violent Night gives us a brief character backstory that explains his fighting aptitude. It’s something that could have been given more time, especially at points where the movie needs a jolt.
The jolts it does get are in the form of over-the-top violent action scenes. Santa isn’t messing around. While early scenes see him get as good as he gives…we eventually see him unleash hell on the unsuspecting mercenaries. A prolonged fight scene in a shed against a full team of armed men (set to a Bryan Adams Christmas song) is the highlight of the movie.
This is, at heart, a Christmas movie. If you are a fan of saccharine, sappy holiday moments you’ll find no shortage here. Some of them, particularly involving the central family, play out well. Others can feel oddly placed in a violent action comedy. There is a level of sweetness underlying the whole of Violent Night…it just feels odd when it takes over the entirety of a scene. Especially when it’s following icicles to the throat and meeting the business end of a snow blower.
It does mean that there is something here for everyone. The comedy is funny. The action is brutal and bloody. Christmas cheer is cheerful. They don’t always combine as smoothly as you’d like…but when they do there is some Christmas magic to be had. Pacing becomes an issue in the second act. They save the best violence for later and the movie kind of becomes stuck for a bit. Thankfully, it gets back on track before long and delivers the best that Violent Night has to offer.
The film also knows that it’s ripping off previous holiday classics. There is a Die Hard reference. There is a Home Alone reference before the movie goes full Home Alone for one of the best scenes in the movie. The mission statement in Violent Night is to have fun with it. It succeeds at delivering fun for fans of action comedies…and even fans of Christmas. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel…but it doesn’t need to.
Scare Value
Violent Night largely succeeds at what it attempts. The cast is excellent, the kills are violent. A slow down midway through and a lack of attempt to be anything more than what you’d expect keep it from holiday greatness. A fun watch that you are unlikely to revisit next Christmas.
3/5
Violent Night Link
Violent Night Trailer
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