Violent Night (2022)

Violent Night (2022)

 6/10

Starring

David Harbour

John Leguizamo

Alex Hassekk

 

Directed by Tommy Wirkola

 

The movie isn’t great, but it’s not totally bad either. It’s essentially a Die Hard copy. In Die Hard, we had John McClane (Bruce Willis) at a Christmas party, but at the wrong time, as armed robbers took over to steal bonds from a vault. In this movie, we have Santa Claus (David Harbour)—yes, the real Santa Claus—so the film adds a fantasy twist to the action-comedy Die Hard formula. Santa is at a Christmas party, again at the wrong time, as armed robbers invade to steal money from a vault, all while Santa was just there to drop off presents unnoticed.

Like Die Hard, the vault isn’t easy to crack, and the criminal mastermind comes prepared for any possible hiccup. But what he didn’t prepare for was John McClane—oh, sorry! In this movie, it’s Santa Claus.

Just like in Die Hard, Santa is alone and has to take on the bad guys to save the day and rescue the family caught in the calamity. The movie doesn’t make much effort to be different; it sticks to the formula but throws in some fantasy elements at the end. One aspect I liked was that Santa wasn’t portrayed as an indestructible character—he could be mortally wounded, which added some stakes.

The plot revolves around a very odd and greedy family called the Lightstones. The family is controlled by its matriarch, Gertrude, who pits her two children against each other to fight for her love and fortune.

On Christmas Eve, the Lightstones gather for a family Christmas party, while Santa is having a rough day dealing with the ungrateful children of the world. We see him drowning his misery in a bar before setting off to deliver the rest of his presents. When he arrives at the Lightstone residence to drop off a gift for the one good child in the house, the place gets hijacked by armed robbers led by a man calling himself Mr. Scrooge. Scrooge knows everything about the Lightstones, and he ruthlessly kills everyone on the premises except the family, whom he holds hostage.

Santa, witnessing the chaos, initially wants to flee. But when he sees the fear in the eyes of Gertrude’s granddaughter, the one good child, he decides to stay and help. That’s when we get to see Santa kicking ass, taking down some of the bad guys, and doing his best to save the family.

I enjoyed this movie more than I should have, and I think it’s because I love Die Hard so much and appreciated the Home Alone gimmicks thrown in. That said, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it, so watch at your own risk.