Violent Night Review

PLOT: When a group of mercenaries takes a rich family hostage, it’s up to Santa Claus (David Harbour) to save the day (believe in Christmas again).

REVIEW: Whenever someone asks me what my favorite Christmas movie is, I have only one answer. Die Hard. The Bruce Willis film has long been at the center of heated debate on it being classified as a holiday film. I know I have had intense arguments with my friends regarding this. While for most of us Die Hard’s place in the pantheon won’t be challenged, Violent Night attempts to become the new definitive Christmas action film. It has an over the top collection of bloody action scenes, insane performances, and some of the corniest jokes in a movie that I have seen in years. 

Of course, I loved every minute of it. 

Violent Night is directed by Tommy Wirkola who is most famous for directing the crtically mixed action fantasy film Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, along with the cult classic Dead Snow movies. Wirkola is the perfect choice to helm this movie. One of the best aspects of Hansel & Gretel was the way Wirkola shot the film as his action scenes delivered everything I crave in an action film. One of my biggest complaints in action films lately has been not being able to see a damn thing. The editing is bad and for some reason directors love to shoot their action scenes with the least amount of light possible. Tommy Wirkola is smart enough to avoid that mistake. Hansel & Gretel may have been divisive but you can’t deny the action scenes were fun to watch. 

The film was written by the men behind the Sonic the Hedgehog films, Patrick Casey and Josh Miller. It seems like they have learned a lot over the years because in the past they wrote direct to dvd comedy films like National Lampoons Dorm Daze 1 & 2. They also had the “honor” to write the script for the biggest box office bomb of 2009 Transylmania (a film so bad it holds a zero presently on Rotten Tomatoes). Boy have they come a long way, and it’s a huge achivement that they have managed to pen a such a fun action comedy. Casey and Miller know that in order to make the film successful they have to take huge swings in the story. Here they really hit a homerun. 

David Harbor plays Chris Kringle, a bitter Santa Claus that has been beaten down over the years by commercialism. Every year children ask for video games and cash. Sadly, he has lost the love and wonder of the holiday season. He spends most of his deliveries drunk out of his skull. Santa Claus has had enough and decides this Christmas will be his last. After all, how could anyone change his mind?

Enter Trudy the grandchild of the wealthy and powerful Lightstone family. She believes in Santa Claus and wishes with all her might that her parents don’t go through with their divorce. Unfortunately, being rich has put a target on the back of the Lightstone family. Gertrude Lightstone is played by the legendary actress Beverly D’Angelo.  Gertrude is a cruel and intimidating person who bulldozes her enemies instantly, smiling as she sees the fear in their eyes. 

And thus, a group of mercenaries led by Mr.Scrooge, played by John Leguizamo, attacks their home. Unfortunately, it’s the very moment that Santa Claus is delivering presents. This leads to an insane series of events that pits Santa Claus vs Mr.Scrooge in a battle royale the delivers lots of “season’s beatings.”

This film feels like a film within a film that’s used in comedy parodies. The best example were those fake movie trailers in Tropic Thunder. While watching it, your mind will be asking “what the hell am I watching?” or “when will the real movie start?”. But, the film is aware of this, and commits to the insanity of it all. It cranks up the absurdity of the premise by 1000 percent. Once your mind accepts this, you will be thrilled by the action in the film and crave the insanity.

David Harbour is brilliant as the apathetic St. Nick. Harbour perfected the role of the beaten down alcoholic hero on Stranger Things, so he is the perfect actor to play such an insane character. David Harbour knows exactly what kind of film he’s in, so he commits to the madness of the premise. 

John Leguizamo has been perfecting the sadistic villain character ever since he guest starred on Miami Vice in the 1980s. Even though Leguizamo started out as a comedic actor, plays the evil Mr.Scrooge straight. He is the Hans Grubber of the film and he knows it. Leguizamo is a master improviser and there is one specific scene toward the end of the film that was comedy gold. 

The rest of the supporting cast is similarly effective. As I stated previously Beverly D’Angelo plays the target of Mr.Scrooge’s team: Gertrude Lightstone. D’Angelo always tends to be cast as cruel characters in films, so to cast her as Gertrude is a no brainer. 

Other supporting characters include comedy actress Edi Patterson who plays Alva the sniveling daughter of Gertrude Lightstone. Patterson is perfect for the role as she embodies that spoiled rich girl desperate for her mother’s approval…and money.  It’s not the first time that Patterson has played a member of a dysfunctional family as many fans of The Righteous Gemstones can attest to. 

More notable performances are featured in the film, like Alva’s wannabe influencer son Bert played by Hardy Boys star Alexander Elliot, are spot on. Even though the character of Bert is one dimensional on the page as the self-absorbed and egotistical son, Elliot spins some comedy gold in the film. 

One of my favorite performances in the film is Cam Gigandet as Alva’s lover Morgan, a vapid fame obsessed actor. Morgan is delusional and considers himself an action star when in reality he has only started in straight to DVD bad action films. You can tell Gigandet is pulling from experiences in his life in the industry with other delusional actors. 

Arguably, the only weak performance in the film is Alex Hassell, who plays the cowardly son of Gertrude Lightstone. I’m sad to say that Hassell is pretty much a glorified extra. His character only serves to move the plot along. He does not gel with most of the cast and it shows. Maybe, he wasn’t given enough to work with? For whatever reason Hassell’s role is forgettable at best. It’s a shame, because I have seen better performances in his previous roles, such as Cowboy Bebop. 

One of the stand out performances of the rest of the cast is Trudy played by Leah Brady. This film is Brady’s first major role and I hope we get to see more of her. She played Trudy with this sense of wonder and cuteness who can be vicious to the criminals. She has one of the best sequences that is a tribute to the christmas classic Home Alone. You know you are working with talented actress when she can maim someone on screeen but yet be utterly adorable. 

While Die Hard is the clear inspiration for this film, Violent Night pulls from other classic holiday outings like Home Alone and my personal favorite, the bonkers Santa Claus – The Movie. You will see many references and easter eggs from your Christmas favorites.  As I stated the comedy in the film is mostly parody based. I am sure we will see many of these jokes on t-shirts for many years to come.

The action in this film is brutal. The John Wick style of fight scenes is put on full display. The amount of gore in this film is ludicrous. I saw many of the squeamish put their hands over their eyes in my screening but most of you will enjoy the many creative and holiday themed ways to die. If you’re a fan of the Evil Dead franchise you will not be disappointed. It’s refreshing to see a film that just doesn’t give a damn about the movie industry’s rating system.

The film is not perfect though. The third act tends to drag a bit and there are references to Santa’s dark past that I wish they followed up on. I also would have liked to have seen the henchmen fleshed out a bit more in the film but that’s just me “St. Nick-picking”.  All in all, I would definitely take your friends this holiday season to your local movie theater. I would recommend you down some spicy eggnog before going to enhance your viewing experience.