Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
Those of you who love Die Hard are about to discover a perfect double-bill for your Holidays! There is nothing more cheery and jolly that good old Saint Nick racking-up a hefty bodycount all for the name of Christmas and childhood wonderment. It is a rare occurrence for a movie to be added to such elite company, but Violent Night manages to take the holiday spirit, spike it with Tequila, and create some of the best violent holiday cheer.
The Movie focuses on Santa Claus (David Harbour) as he is visibly-exhausted and on the brink of quitting his jolly duty of being Santa because children today are just too spoiled and nothing ever is enough for them. After continuing his Holiday duties, and being met with bad treats and spoiled milk time and time again, he eventually ends up down Gertrude Lightstoneâs (Beverly DâAngelo) chimey. Gertrude has her two children, Alva (Edi Patterson) and Jason (Alex Hassell) over for the holidays with their respective families consisting of Morgan Steel (Cam Gigandet), Bert (Alexander Elliot), Linda (Alexis Louder) and Trudy (Leah Brady). There is tension between Linda and Jason, but theyâre trying to put it aside for Trudyâs sake, while Alva is convinced Jason is trying to suck-up more than usual to their mother to obtain more of her vast fortune. The night takes a turn of events when Scrooge (John Leguizamo) and his crew of mercenaries consisting of Krampus (Brendan Fletcher), Candy Cane (Mitra Suri) Sugarplum (Stephanie Sy), and Gingerbread (Andre Eriksen) try to break into Gertrudeâs vault and steal the money. However, what they donât expect is that they cross paths with Saint Nick, and theyâre messing with him on the wrong ho-ho-holiday.
While the Script penned by Pat Casey and Josh Miller takes about thirty minutes to start going, once it does the action never stops and the complete madness and chaos truly doesnât stop. The Film is chaotic gruesome violence, with a dash of Home Alone-inspired destruction but it is the violent Santa story that the audience is there for, and it is certainly packed to the prim with Santa-clad violence. Tommy Wirkola being behind the camera brings his hyper-focused style of violence to the forefront, as seen in his previous work of the Dead Snow movies and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.
However, no Script and direction alone can be complete without a Cast to support all of the madness that unfolds throughout. Violent Night is boosted by an excellent Ensemble Cast, with a swearing-laden and quiet hilarious Beverly DâAngleo who breaks away from her Griswold motherliness, David Harbour who dials it up from his character Hopper in Stranger Things to an “11”, cranking-up the violence to an all-time high. Leguizamo playing Scrooge is perfectly-cast with his hatred of Christmas and bah-humbug vibes he manages to give off. The mercenaries are all rather silly and one dimensional, but it is the unhinged madness of Brendan Fletcher that makes him stand out from the crowd.
Violent Night is an insane instant classic that is surely going to wind-up on Holiday watchlists. There is so much to love and enjoy with this incredibly-gory, graphic, and downright brilliant Action-Comedy about jolly Saint Nick.
Universal Pictures Canada release VIOLENT NIGHT in theatres on Friday December 2, 2022.
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