Movie Review: Violent Night is a fun attempt at creating an adult Christmas classic
Created: 07/12/2022 15:51
By: Philip Heggmair
He's fed up: surrounded by gangsters, Santa Claus grabs a sledgehammer © Universal Pictures
A group of gangsters take a rich family hostage on Christmas Eve.
Bad luck for them that Santa Claus is sitting in the attic – drunk and extremely defensive
Cinema – The Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola is a specialist in funny and gory splatter films.
With Violent Night he brings a variation of Die Hard to the cinema that just barely misses the goal of becoming an eternal Christmas classic.
The character of the hungover, grumpy antihero isn't new.
Here Santa Claus, who has fallen away from the faith, struggles with his fate of having to give out gifts forever to people who don't believe in him anyway.
He bickers with his reindeer, steals schnapps, beer and cookies on his house tours.
Only when a little girl calls for help over a walkie-talkie pulls the fallen saint out of his lethargy.
Gangsters have stormed a villa and taken the owners hostage.
So Santa Claus grabs his beloved hammer again - to bring people to the right belief on Christmas Eve after all!
In the best one-man-against-everyone manner, a chaotic beating orgy unfolds in the swanky villa, which causes many a Christmas decoration to break.
Despite his superhuman abilities, the out-of-shape Santa is constantly being beaten, gunned down and knocked out.
With creative camera ideas and a knack for absurd comedy, the film plays its strongest card in the action sequences.
The Violent Night movie poster © Universal Pictures
One problem with Violent Night, however, is that it runs for almost two hours, which is too long.
Each argument is followed by long minutes of idleness.
The figures are more like caricatures than three-dimensional characters, which on the one hand can be seen as a homage to the simple action films of the 80s, but on the other hand it no longer corresponds to today's standards.
This is how Violent Night works as an irreverent, fun action bash that can't hold a candle to the big Christmas classics.
Our rating: 7/10
