Violent Night

8.2/10 stinky bananas

Surprisingly fun Christmas movie.

After watching the trailer for this movie, I was 95 percent certain it was going to be terrible. Hand up, I was wrong. It's definitely a worthy candidate to be put in the annual Christmas movie rotation.

David Harbour is a great Santa. Very funny and charismatic; and his Santa suit ruled.

Are you ready for a crazy statement that's only a slight exaggeration? Violent Night has John Wick type action with Home Alone type laughs. What a combo that is eh? This movie is produced by the same guys that did John Wick and they directly reference Home Alone in the movie, so you could probably understand the link I made there. Not only does Violent Night entertain with great action and comedy, but it also has the heart that a great Christmas movie should have. All the Christmas movies that have stood the test of time make you feel nice and warm inside. Violent Night is no different.

With all those compliments you would think the movie would be rated higher than 8.2/10 right? Wrong. Santa is a murderous Viking in his past life? Huh? What the hell is that all about? What an unnecessary backstory. The flashback scenes of him in a viking helmet completely took me out of the movie. Okay, Santa is freakishly good with a sledgehammer, it's a bit weird but I don't really need an explanation. Santa is allowed to be a badass with no questions asked. I don't need to know he murdered a gazillion people in a past life. It's a bit much.

Go check this one out. You'll like it. Probably.