Violent Night

This Friday, Violent Night was released in theaters. Violent Night occurs on Christmas Eve when a wealthy family is taken hostage by a group of mercenaries intent on still millions from the family vault. With no other options, the family must rely on Santa Claus to rescue them and save the day.

This movie turned out exactly how I thought it would. The basic idea is essentially Die Hard but with Santa Claus which if you enjoy Die Hard as I do, makes for a very fun movie. David Harbor does a great job of playing a more cynical Santa. He has just the right personality to pull it off. I also really enjoyed the Trudy character. She provides the right amount of innocence to the movie that wouldn't otherwise be there. She also supplies some of the funniest moments in the film. If you like Home Alone, you will like her moments in the movie. The two characters provide a great dynamic together with Trudy helping Santa find more hope in the world instead of giving up on Christmas. As this is essentially Die Hard with Santa, the action has to be discussed. The action in this film is really well done. The fights are able to encompass the Christmas theme of the movie and include items such as candy canes, icicles, and presents in the fight. There is also a lot of humor in this film with a lot of moments making me laugh out loud. Finally, this film gave Santa a lot of character growth throughout the movie, allowing the events and characters in the story to cause him to change and grow as a person.

While I really enjoyed this movie, it is important to note that the movie is not for everyone. It is very violent and very mean-spirited when it comes to Christmas. If you saw the trailer and did not like it, then you will not like this movie. There are a couple issues I had as well that put the movie down slightly. The first issue is that the movie does drag just a tad in the middle of the film. If the film was just ten minutes shorter I think it would've been much better. The other issue isn't much of a problem but is inherently a consequence of why I like the film so much. As I talked about before, part of the reason I like the film so much is that it is basically Die Hard with Santa. However, that being the case, it makes the movie very derivative and formulaic. You can definitely feel the Die Hard formula in this film. While not an issue for me, it may be a problem for some. Regardless of that, it is still a very good movie.

Overall, this is a fun action movie about Santa beating up a bunch of mercenaries. While it follows the Die Hard formula pretty hard, it does the formula well and makes for a great action Christmas movie.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A- Recommendation: If you like Die Hard, you'll love this.

R Rating Disclaimer: This movie is rated R for graphic violence and language. If those things bother you, then you should not watch this movie.

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