R | 1h 52m | 12.2.2022
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Genre(s): Comedy, Action, Christmas
Noe Cast: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Beverly D'Angelo, Alex Hassell
Ryan’s Score: 80/100
Rotten Tomatoes: 88% Audience, 71% Critic (As of: 12.11.2022)
Watch the trailer here:
This movie surprised me. It’s probably one of my new favorite Christmas movies. It’s like John Wick and Home Alone had a love child then Die Hard raised it. Makes sense since there are plenty of not-so-subtle references to Home Alone and Die Hard throughout the movie. The Lightstone family compound is broken into on Christmas Eve by a group of mercenaries. The uber-wealthy family is taken hostage, but it just so happens that Santa Clause is making his rounds at the house as the burglars begin their takeover.
I went to see Violent Night with my mom, who LOVES gory movies. I do too. Needless to say, we both had a blast at the theater. I was expecting a bunch of cheesy lines and gratuitous violence. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of lines that will make some people groan. But for me and my mom, they were hilarious. The violence, by the way, was excellent, even if at times it was slightly gratuitous. The fight choreography was creative and exciting. Santa (David Harbour) uses a variety of objects lying around the house to kill the mercenaries. Every single death is brutally satisfying. A guy’s head catches on fire. Someone is sliced in half with an ice skate. Multiple people are bludgeoned by hammers.
The little girl in the film, Trudy Lightstone (Leah Brady), is adorable and charming. She’s probably the reason the movie actually works. Her character, and Brady’s performance, are what give the movie heart. She’s sweet, charming, and along with her mom, probably the only redeemable member of the Lightstone family. Without her, we’d probably be rooting for the bad guys to kill everyone and take the money. Trudy had just watched Home Alone the night before, so when she goes into hiding, Kevin provides inspiration for her to set boobie traps. She sets traps reminiscent of the ones Kevin sets in Home Alone but seeing as Violent Night is rated R, the traps provide some very gruesome fates. Not going to spoil it, but one of the traps had me and my mom cringing, laughing, and excited all at once.
David Harbour is perfect as badass Santa. He brings the same comedic action energy he did as Red Guardian in Black Widow and the misfit father turned hero vibe he has in the first season of Stranger Things. His relationship with Trudy throughout the film adds a lot of heartwarming moments to an otherwise very crude film. The magical naughty and nice list he has throughout the film is very cool and a great detail that brings even more intrigue to the character of Santa.
On the critical front, the lighting throughout the movie is very dark. Even indoors, it’s hard to see what’s going on at a few points. Outdoors, it’s very hard to see the action a lot of the time. Since the fighting and deaths are so gruesome, I would have liked to see all that a bit more clearly. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the heartwarming essence of the film, along with the great performance of David Harbor.
Want to dive deeper into this film? Well, you’re in luck! I’ve compiled some additional links to explore below.
Other Reviews:
‘Violent Night’ Review: David Harbour’s Santa Delivers a Comedic Mayhem Miracle (The Wrap)
I put the wrong trailer at the end of yesterday’s post, I won’t be reviewing Spoiler Alert. Next week I’ll be reviewing Avatar: The Way of Water on Monday and Glass Onion on Thursday, check out the trailers here: