John Leguizamo stole the show in 'Violent Night'
My belated holiday movie recommendation
A few weeks ago,
published a pretty cool piece made up of guest contributions, where each author recommended an overlooked Holiday movie. I think there are some really nice titles up there including a few I’ve never even heard of. That inspired me to think of my own little Holiday viewing recommendation.So, for your consideration, I present: Violent Night! Its conceit is: “What if Die Hard were a real Christmas movie with Santa instead of John McLane?” And it works!
That shouldn’t be too surprising, given that the director is Tommy Wirkola, another auteur moving up in Hollywood after making his name with low-budget splatstick cult horror comedies, like Dead Snow (2009) and its sequel, Red vs. Dead (2014).
Violent Night is perhaps Wirkola’s most commercial effort by far, but it doesn’t feel as though his touch was at all diluted. That much is evident from its opening scene, where a depressed and disillusioned Santa Claus gets drunk in a bar and pukes out of his sleigh, right on the head of a bystander, as he flies off into the night.
The sequence perfectly sets up the movie’s central character arc - Santa getting his Christmas spirit back - but also tells you exactly the weird combination of sincere holiday fare and over-the-top dark comedy the director is going for.
Admittedly, the premise is maybe a tad stretched out here and there, but the movie absolutely commits to the bit, while dropping some cool lore and over-the-top violence in the process. This Santa, it turns out, was once some sort of Norse viking warrior, and so in order to save a family from a group of armed terrorists, I mean, burglars, he basically has to get in touch with his older, pre-Claus, ultra-violent self.
David Harbour is absolutely perfect for this take on the character, and I can imagine it becoming the iconic big-screen role he’s been looking for (especially if this becomes an ongoing franchise). But the real MVP here is actually John Leguizamo, who seems to absolutely relish his role as the film’s Christmas-hating big bad, appropriately codenamed Mr. Scrooge. He dominates every scene he’s in and never lets Scrooge’s menace dissipate as the movie gets increasingly outlandish.
Truly, one of the best things about this movie is that it provides its villain with a legitimate character arc. Scrooge starts out as the ultimate skeptic, somebody seemingly so beaten down by life that he cannot at all fathom the possibility that Santa Claus could really exist, despite having seen lots of evidence to the contrary.
The moment where it finally dawns on him that, yes, this hammer-wielding Santa that’s been murdering his men all night is the real deal Kris Kringle is played perfectly by Leguizamo without a hint of irony or winking at the camera in what is easily the best scene in the movie.
Now, if you’ve watched a lot of Christmas films or specials, you’re probably used to villains that realize the errors of their ways and ultimately reform. And for a split second, Leguizamo might convince you that this is where Violent Night is indeed headed. Maybe, just maybe, having recognized the truth, Scrooge will lay down his arms and repent. What we get instead though is so much better.
Scrooge decides that facing off against Santa is actually his destiny. Now, the money he came to steal doesn’t matter anymore. If he can kill Santa, he can destroy Christ-mas itself, and thus give his pitiful existence a sense of meaning and purpose.
Maybe it’s just Leguizamo’s performance, but I have to wonder if at this point, the viewer is meant to empathize with Scrooge, if only a little.
Giving this further credence is the fact that Scrooge then gets one of those badass, larger-than-life action movie moments, where he readies himself for battle and utters what I hope will become an iconic one-liner:
“Whatever it takes… Christmas dies tonight!”
The ensuing duel between Scrooge and Santa is appropriately operatic and over-the-top, culminating in a great payoff to a recurring gag involving Santa and chimneys.* But it wouldn’t work nearly as well as it does without the sincere commitment of both actors to the emotional reality of the sequence’s larger-than-life stakes.
*My only complaint here is that Wirkola missed out on the perfect opportunity to use “Carol of the Bells” to make the climax seem truly epic.
And this is a key reason why Violent Night has ‘future Christmas Classic’ written all over it, if you ask me. So if you haven’t checked it out before, now is the perfect time.
But what do you think?Have you seen Violent Night? Do you think it could become a Christmas Classic? What did you think of John Leguizamo’s performance? Please,
Some might think this post is a little late but… did you know that in certain parts of the world Christmas is celebrated on January 7?! There’s even an ‘old New Year’ on January 14! Anyway, if you like this post, please subscribe to get more quality criticism.
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