David Harbour basically blends Jason Statham with Will Farrell for his version of Santa Clause, here. A sledgehammer-slinging Santa Claus though might seem perverse to those who revere the original myth. The narrative is rather slow to catch fire with the action coming in much later than expected.
A still from the movie 'Violent Night' (Pic courtesy: Twitter)
Hollywood Film Review
Johnson Thomas
Film: Violent Night
Cast: David Harbour, Beverly D'Angelo, John Leguizamo
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Rating: * * 1/2
Runtime: 112 mins
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This film, attempting an invocation to the festive spirit with blood thirsty violence, is not exactly a season’s greeting. Imagine St Nicholas aka Santa Claus as a renegade, bludgeoning avenging angel and you might just be put-off by this deliberately violent reworking of a hitherto reverential and saintly myth. That’s not to say that the good versus evil fight isn’t thrilling or exciting here. It is both - just feels like it's in very bad taste though.
When a group of mercenaries attacks the estate of a wealthy family, David Harbour as the frustrated, grumpy Santa Clause (who is both comic and brutal) must step in to save the day.
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David Harbour basically blends Jason Statham with Will Farrell for his version of Santa Clause, here. A sledgehammer-slinging Santa Claus though might seem perverse to those who revere the original myth. The narrative is rather slow to catch fire with the action coming in much later than expected. But once it gets started, it fitfully sends up blood and gore at sporadic intervals. Though rudimentary, the violence is effectively forceful. Each hit is performed in a visceral flourish. The body count is also incremented with satisfactory creativity.
The supporting actors don’t put on much of a show and the dialogue sounds pretty unoriginal. There’s also way too much talking for an action flick.
There are interesting character arcs - Santa is shown as cynical about the self and humanity while the family under siege has its own tensions to deal with. But some of the major and minor arcs are rather underdeveloped and found wanting. Especially that which involves Santa’s backstory.
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If only there was more of it and done with enough conviction, we might have taken this uncharacteristic twist against the ‘legend’ with a lot more forbearance. As it plays out, the inconsistent pacing and the theme and treatment that glorifies the wanton sacrilege of a revered myth (even when it's all for the good) in this season of good cheer, make this experience rather off-putting.
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