As much as I moan every year that I am running out of Christmas films for these reviews I say it in jest. I am very aware that new Christmas films are coming out every year, although I am also very aware that the majority of them are absolute shit. However, occasionally one comes around that looks at least interesting, which is the case with today’s film Violent Night (2022). The film tells the story of the Lightstone family, a very wealthy family who have strained relationships with each other due to all wanting the family inheritance. While getting together on Christmas Eve, a group of mercenaries, led by a man going by Mr. Scrooge (John Leguizamo), breaks into the house to steal $ 300 million dollars that is stashed in the family safe. This coincides with Santa visiting the house to deliver presents, and it becomes his mission to save the family and take out the mercenaries.
The first thing to note from this is that it wasn’t the kind of film I expected it to be. I was expecting it to be a comedic slasher film with Santa being the killer and although this is something I have seen before it is also a sub-genre I enjoy so I was more than happy to watch another take on this. However, as you probably deduced from the synopsis the film is an action film, and this came as a pleasant surprise. And in terms of its action, it absolutely delivers. There are several fight scenes throughout the film, and it is where the film is at its best. The film manages to mix genuinely fun fight choreography with elements of comedy that fit the tone of the film very well, and throughout the film I found myself waiting for these action scenes. It is also properly gory, sometimes to quite a ridiculous extent and it adds to the film's sense of fun (at least for degenerates like me) and it allows the film to be more creative with its fight scenes as it isn’t afraid to take things to these gory levels. It also adds to the juxtaposition that is ever present in the film, contrasting the violence with Christmas music and the spirit of the season.
However, there is a lot about the film that doesn’t work for me. As I mentioned earlier, I found myself basically just waiting for the action scenes throughout the film, and every time there wasn’t an action scene happening, I found myself losing interest pretty quickly. This was mostly due to the fact that the film has a heavy comedic tone to it, and the comedy for the most part doesn’t work for me. When it is incorporated into the action scenes it does work as it adds a fun juxtaposition, but elsewhere it just isn’t my kind of thing. So there is a lot of downtime where I am very uninterested in what is going on, and it did mean that I didn’t enjoy the film as much as maybe I could have. What I will say is that these scenes would be so much worse without the presence of David Harbour who plays Santa. He is easily the most interesting character within the film and is a generally very fun version of an onscreen Santa, and he is able to capture the comedy tone and hold his own in the fight scenes as well. Without him, the film would be a lot worse.
Violent Night is a perfectly fine addition to the Christmas pantheon. It delivers on its action scenes and although I didn’t find it all that funny there were plenty of laughs in the screening that I saw so it may work for you. Outside of the action scenes it feels a little shallow and it can get a little tedious at times, but for the most part, it is a perfectly watchable and decently fun film.
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