“Violent Night” Review
David Harbour stars in “Violent Night” as Santa Claus, who has to become an action hero to save a little girl and her family from armed robbers on Christmas Eve.
Warning: This review is going to have a bit of foul language in it. But I’m reviewing a film about Santa killing people so it’s kind of appropriate.
When I first saw the trailer for “Violent Night,” I said to myself, “this is probably going to be incredibly stupid and incredibly awesome all at once” Surprisingly, I was wrong. Don’t be mistaken, this film was incredible to watch with a great audience, but I found myself invested in the characters as well. The result is a new, unconventional holiday classic that gave me what I wanted for Christmas: a hilarious, action-packed film that left me filled with some twisted version of the Yuletide spirit.
It’s Christmas Eve and Santa Claus (David Harbour) has become depressed about the holiday, which he feels has become too commercial. However, some kids still believe like Trudy (Leah Brady), who is spending Christmas with her estranged parents (Alex Hassell and Alexis Louder) and her vapid extended family at a luxurious mansion. Trudy’s holiday takes a turn for the worse when a group of mercenaries, led by the delightfully mean spirited “Scrooge” (John Leguizamo), take the family hostage to get hundreds of millions in cash. Unfortunately, they decided to hold the family at gunpoint right when Santa came to the house to make his delivery. After being attacked and seeing that Trudy, one of the nicest kids on his list, is in trouble, Santa decides to open a whole sleigh’s worth of whup-ass as he brings the “seasons beatings” to these wannabe Hans Grubers.
Do I even need to say why I loved this film? It’s Santa Claus taking out bad guys in incredibly violent ways while delivering a lot of laughs. If you think you’ll like this film, then you’re not going to be disappointed. As Santa, David Harbour brings the badass qualities that you’d expect while also bringing some heart. I was surprised to see that this film has a redemption story as Santa tries to believe in the good of Christmas. While it might seem strange to make that path to salvation riddled with bodies, “Violent Night” is clearly about trying to entertain an audience at all costs.
Despite its colorful wrapping, this isn’t a typical, mindless film. If it was, the supporting characters wouldn’t be as interesting. I knew that “Violent Night” was doing something special when I found myself caring about the people being held hostage. Most of the family are likable assholes that put materials ahead of their family’s well-being, especially the matriarch Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo). Just imagine a family where nearly everyone is Ellis from “Die Hard.” You don’t want to see them get hurt, but you also relish it at the same time.
While David Harbour is entertaining, he’s not the only one pulling his weight. John Leguizamo (right) is amazing as a villain with brilliant comedic timing.
However, the characters that aren’t complete pieces of shit are Trudy and her parents. All Trudy wants is for her mom and dad to make up and for them to be a family again and you really do care. It’s clear that the writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller wanted to make relatable people to make Santa’s fight all the more meaningful.
While Harbour is amazing, little Leah Brady is fantastic as this innocent little kid who truly believes in Santa and, when she finds out he’s in the house, teams up with him to take out the mercenaries. Any other mindless film would have made this character too annoying or too cute but there was great effort made to make her as likable as possible.
Alongside Harbour and Brady, every actor in this film looks like they’re having the time of their lives while filming. John Leguizamo and his crew of criminals are the perfect balance of serious and goofy. You’re having a ball with their hilarious antics but you also understand that they would kill anyone without a second thought.
Speaking of killing, the film’s action is a million flavors of fun with Santa using a variety of creative methods to take out the criminals. “Violent Night” is clearly influenced by “Die Hard” and “Home Alone” and doesn’t try to hide it. Even Trudy gets involved by making booby traps that even Kevin McCallister would call sadistic. But it’s the comedy where “Violent Night” excels and it pairs quite well with the destruction and mayhem. The actors certainly know how to make their lines work but Casey and Miller’s screenplay is loaded with hilarious gems, including Santa’s backstory which I won’t dare reveal.
With an incredible sense of humor and some engaging action sequences, there’s just one thing that could have improved the film: a montage of Santa killing bad guys with bright Christmas decorations in the background to the sound of “The Night Santa Went Crazy” by Weird Al Yankovic. The fact that this song wasn’t used is a crime. It’s like when you find out that “An American Werewolf in London” didn’t use Warren Zevon’s song “Werewolves of London.” The stars were perfectly aligned but you weren’t looking at the damn sky.
There are moments where the script feels lazy, but ingeniously so. For instance, when Santa tries to explain why he can do such incredible stuff, he says that it’s “Christmas magic. I don’t really know how it works.” This is just the filmmakers’ way of saying, “we know you don’t give a shit about the logistics of “Violent Night” so we’re just going to do whatever the hell we want.” Fair enough.
In its own twisted way, I believe that “Violent Night” is destined to become a Christmas classic. Not only that, it makes all other beloved holiday films seem passé by comparison. “The Polar Express?” Get on that train and go fuck yourself. “Miracle on 34th Street?” Commit that kind and gentle Santa to the loony bin. “A Christmas Story?” Take that leg lamp and shove it up your ass. “It’s a Wonderful Life?” Go ahead and jump George Bailey! “Die Hard?” Okay, I can’t go that far. “Die Hard” is pretty awesome.
All jokes aside, “Violent Night” is a lot of fun. If you’re looking for a laugh, some great action or just to get away from all of the wholesome shit this Christmas, then this film is going to give you what you want.
