Well… where do I begin with this one? I actually really enjoyed it, but it’s completely bonkers and the tone is all over the shop. But that’s possibly one of its strengths too. It fully commits to being both a heartfelt Hollywood Christmas Family movie and also a ridiculously violent Die-Hard-styled action thriller, shamelessly mashing both genres up at a furious and dizzying pace.
The story features a disillusioned Santa Clause (yes, the real one) who’s been ground down by the grim reality of modern Christmas and the relentlessly shallow consumerism that seems to have taken over. However when a group of ruthless mercenaries crash the party of an ultra-wealthy family and Santa ends up in the crossfire, he’ll have to channel all the Christmas Spirit he can muster in order to save the day. And woe betide anyone who’s on his naughty list!
David Harbour makes a great world-weary Santa – but also embodies the pure physicality needed to sell the role of a kick-ass nordic warrior. The mercenaries – led by a deliciously OTT John Leguizamo – are all memorably unique (and horrible) enough that each kill has some meaning. And the family themselves – apart from the sweet little girl who’s responsible for Santa being there – are all hilariously vile in a Succession-like manner.
The action sequences – which mostly consist of hand-to-hand fighting – are pretty well done. I hate movies where battles turn into a shaky-cam mess and you can’t tell what’s going on. Here, it’s well choreographed and shot – and a lot of fun to watch. And – perhaps unsurprisingly, given the title – it’s very violent. If you ever wondered what the booby traps from HOME ALONE would actually do to a human body in non-PG movie, this film does a great job of answering it 🙂
So, overall – it’s a weird but fun movie. It almost felt a bit Taika Waititi-ish, which is no bad thing at all. I kept finding myself laughing even at the non-jokey parts, just because the scenario is so surreally bonkers, but god bless the filmmakers for fully embracing it and not trying to water it down. So glug down plenty of egg nog, chew on a few mince pies (with plenty of brandy butter) and get ready for the most violent but weirdly good-spirited Christmas movie that’s been made… well.. possibly ever!
