ViolentNight Review: Wirkola’s Gory Christmas Flick Is Wildly Entertaining
There’s no time like the end of the year, when families all around the world gather to usher in Christmas cheer through decorations, song, and holiday movies. This season, Universal Pictures will release a new kind of Christmas flick, which sees David Harbour as a barbaric variant of Santa Claus with a potty mouth and zest for booze. Director Tommy Wirkola helms this commemorative mashup of Die Hard and Home Alone from Pat Casey and Josh Miller’s screenplay.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY David Harbour’s Santa Claus is nearing the end of his love as Old Saint Nick. Feeling down on his faith in humanity and growing tired from having to stuff the stockings of bratty kids, Mr. Claus reluctantly presses on with his Christmas duties. When he visits the Lightstone residence, where Gertrude hosts her daughter Alva , son Jason , and their immediate family members, he’s in for a violent surprise. A team of mercenaries, led by “Mr.
While it’s easy to recognize Wirkola’s latest as a wildly entertaining and on-the-nose showcase of storytelling influences from the likes of Home Alone, the script goes beyond the minimum to embrace its fundamental strengths. The film doesn’t shy away from locking in on the sentimental, yielding some truly heartwarming scenes when certain characters aren’t being shot at or brutally murdered by Mr. Claus himself.
While there have been several actors who’ve taken up the Santa Claus mantle over the years, it is David Harbour who brings in a layered performance to reveal a new side to the jolly Father Christmas. His performance is simply wonderful. He integrates humanity to a figure whose motto is holiday cheer and whose existence comes from Christmas magic. It’s evident throughout this feature that Harbour had a grand time playing this vicious version of Santa Claus.
Packed with raunchy dialogue and bloody action sequences, Violent Night is crowd-pleasing and a great time at the movies. This isn’t an average Christmas flick, but it’s exactly why this entertaining parable of a sledgehammer-wielding Santa Claus will catch viewers by surprise. The film doesn’t always meet its mark when it comes to adequate pacing, but there are plenty of highs to overcome even fewer lows in this delightfully bloody good time.
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