Violent Night, the Christmas action film starring David Harbour: review and trailer

This Christmas, it's going to be a wild ride, at least in theaters, with the action film Violent Night, starring David Harbour as a jaded, alcoholic and violent Santa Claus. The film is due in cinemas on November 30, 2022.

Trailer for Violent Night:

Directed by Tommy Wirkola, whose credits include Seven Sisters and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Violent Night is a rather original Die Hard-style Christmas movie, but with Bruce Willis not as a hotheaded cop, but as Santa Claus himself. A rather unusual Santa Claus, in fact, as he's fed up with delivering the same presents to the same ungrateful children. So, to make the day he hates the most go by faster, he drinks every bottle he can get his hands on while he's delivering presents.

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Synopsis of Violent Night:

On Christmas Eve, when a group of mercenaries break into a wealthy family's property and take them hostage, they face an unexpected adversary: Santa Claus(David Harbour) is in the house, and he's going to show them that good old St. Nicholas has more than one trick up his sleeve.

Our verdict

Turning Santa Claus into a jaded, vulgar drunk is an idea as silly as it is crazy, and any fan of good B-movies knows that these are the two ingredients of a good B-movie. Violent Night is a big, low-rent romp that gets all its humor from its sheer stupidity. It's the kind of film you'd like to see with your mates, for an evening of good-natured humor. The whole film hinges on its pitch, that of Santa Claus battling some very nasty villains. And it works.

Violent Night's appeal lies above all in its generosity. Since there's nothing really exciting about the script, filmmaker Tommy Wirkola places all his hopes in staging the violence. With its low blows, hilarious confrontations and jubilant scenes, it's this perpetual second degree that makes Violent Night such good entertainment.

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