Violent Night

David Harbour ist die Hälfte des Films. Der gutmütige Santa Claus mit Wurzeln eines strengen Wikingers wurde für ihn geschrieben. Das Mischen von Motiven aus Stirb langsam und Kevin - Allein zu Haus, die in Amerika zu Weihnachtskultklassikern geworden sind, ist der richtige Weg, um in ihrer Gesellschaft in einem anderen Genre-Gewand zu sein. Wirkola ist es fast gelungen – er kombiniert Weihnachtsklischees mit neuen Ideen, die Familienmitglieder in Gefahr sind kein Klischee und die Handlung ist schwungvoll. Es ist nur schade, dass die Gegner von Harbour keine interessanten Schufte sind, vor denen man mehr Respekt hätte. (29.11.2023)

A gang of killers decide to ruin Christmas for a dysfunctional family and only Santa Claus can save them, and the chubby bearded guy is definitely not afraid of violence. Tommy Wirkola may be a little slow to get going in his actioner, and maybe he plays a little too much with genres and Christmas clichés, but he manages to shift into the mode we love him in time. David Harbour is clearly in his element here, the action sequences are full of ideas and clearly shot, the humour is pitch black and the references to Home Alone and Die Hard are a delight too. (08.12.2022)

Seasons Beatings! A beautiful film. Exactly one of those movies that highlights why I love movies. Tommy Wirkola reaffirms his status as a tough butcher off the rails and has quite possibly made one of his best films; at the very least he made a film that has the potential to become a Christmas classic and will definitely not be missing in my living room every Christmas in the future. Of course, for the introverts, weirdo entities, puritans and outcasts of society, this will be and American piece of shit without a story that is unnecessarily filthy and brutal, and I'm glad that the code of decency suffered incredibly in the process, I really enjoy torturing this bunch like this, probably like David Harbour, who played the best role of his career. Violent Night is one crazy, fun, perverse and brutal action ride that takes Christmas traditions, John Wick-like action, twisted humour and references to Home Alone and together it works incredibly well and cool. The story may be simple, but there's beauty in simplicity, and all the other filmmaking aspects and details are important; the work they have put in is very evident and I appreciate it accordingly. Apart from the excellent Harbour, for whom this was a tailor-made role (his flashback was also awesome, by the way, and I hope we will learn even more about him in the eventual sequel), the villains are also a delight, John Leguizamo plays a surprisingly decent bad guy, but his henchmen also have their bit of glory, and I looked forward to every disposal, which are brimming with original and entertaining ideas. I was sure of a decent 4 stars, but once it came to the barn scene, it was a done deal. It was such a carnage!!! Santa, with a skullcracker and skates for knives, performs the Christmas ballet of death, and for me it is without a doubt one of the best scenes I have seen this year. I'll be playing this before bed every night. This whole glorious sequence is then built up with traps like in Home Alone, and I was roaring with laughter and joy. I'm glad Wirkola put something like that, those were two top notch sequences (read orgasm) right after each other. The Christmas music was good too and of course I couldn't fail to mention the properly twisted and bawdy humour, which was perfectly fitting. The emotions worked on me at times thanks to the cute little girl and there were a few minor twists and turns, so very satisfied. A properly entertaining, crazy and brutal film like this year's Bullet Train. 9/10 (12.12.2022)

In the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, when several dozen action films vied for viewers’ attention every year, the rule was that the way to distinguish one’s film from those of the competition was to include previously unseen attractions, or at least a unique screenplay, setting and overall visual or subgenre stylization. The filmmakers from 87North Productions consciously follow the Hong Kong tradition in many respects. Unfortunately, however, over the four years since they stopped being mere subcontractors providing choreography for action scenes and started producing movies themselves, they have reached a point where, instead of amazement and excitement, their films evoke only a superficially altered impression of something that has already been seen. This was inevitable, because unlike in the case of the major productions from the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, they have nowhere to grow. On the one hand, they have no competition, but no one will entrust them with bigger budgets that would enable them to further develop. Furthermore, they don’t have any stars other than Keanu Reeves who would devote themselves to the action genre, work on themselves and continually impress viewers with new stunts. On the other hand, it didn’t matter that Nobody is a variation on John Wick, because the film was carried by the excellent Bob Odenkirk. The same was true of Kate in relation to Atomic Blonde thanks to Mary Elizabeth Winstead and the pop-Japanese stylisation. Not to mention that in both of these cases the choreography worked with real physical aspects and a specific setting. But Violent Night not only comes across in its choreography as a derivative of the same company’s previous films, but the thing that is supposed to make it different is in itself derivative. The whole film blatantly paraphrases Home Alone and Die Hard, this time with Santa Claus himself battling the highly capable bad guys. Unfortunately, in practice this is all reduced to the insipid juvenile attraction of Santa cursing with a broken nose and a blood-soaked beard through most of the film. Of course, he also uses Christmas items like tree ornaments to eliminate his enemies. However, the film peculiarly comes most alive when it dispenses with the would-be shocking of American viewers stupefied by the illusion of Christmas and moves to the attic in the manner of Home Alone and to the tool shed in the style of Commando. But even these flashes of inventiveness (though still derivative) cannot obscure the desperate fact that David Harbour doesn’t have the charisma to carry an entire film on his own and that Tommy Wirkola is a master of gimmick movies whose final execution falls far short of the promise of their catchy concepts. (18.12.2022)

Tommy Wirkola combined the story of a Santa who lost his faith in Christmas with Die Hard. A rich family is gathered in their well-guarded mansion for the holidays when they are attacked by evil kidnappers just as Santa is eating cookies from one of the few good girls there. David Harbour is initially profiled as a pudgy drunk who wants to quit his job, but when glimpses into the past reveal his origins, he takes on an almost mythical dimension. Then, when he picks up a sledgehammer in a shed and goes to rescue the little girl, things get intense, with mashed-up heads, dismembered kidnappers and ground-up soldiers. The action is not blurred and it’s also innovative in a Christmas way. The jokes ooze with cynicism, the references to Home Alone are downright brutal. It’s just a little slow at times, you need some patience at first, but most of the time it's great fun. (26.12.2022)

Die Liste der Unartigen wird dieses Jahr zu Weihnachten nicht so lang sein. Ich ziehe meine imaginäre Nikolausmütze vor demjenigen, der gesagt hat: „Ich habe eine Idee, wie man den Weihnachtsplot von Stirb Langsam noch weihnachtsmäßiger gestalten könnte!“; vor demjenigen, der hinzugefügt hat: „Und was halten Sie davon, wenn man ihn mit Kevin - Allein zu Haus kombinieren würde?“; und vor dem Verrückten, der das Ganze schließlich so aufgenommen hat, dass es nicht krampfhaft, sondern lustig ist. Ja, auf den ersten Blick hat es etwas Ähnliches schon vor zwei Jahren gegeben, und zwar Fatman mit Mel Gibson. Sein festlicher Actionfilm hat mir zwar gefallen, er ist aber bei weitem nicht so unterhaltsam wie Violent Night. David Harbour in der Titelrolle ist perfekt, er genießt Santa in jedem Augenblick. In den Actionszenen mit einer soliden Choreografie wirkt er sehr überzeugend. Der Trailer verrät nicht alles. Abgesehen von all dem einfallsreichen Schießen, Schlagen, Brechen, Stechen, Schreien, Saufen, Lebkuchenessen, Bluten und Schimpfen wartet auf das Publikum auch ein Blick in die Vergangenheit des bärtigen Kerls oder einer der Höhepunkte des Films, der zeigt, wie Kevin - Allein zu Haus aussehen würde, wenn er wirklich brutal wäre. Violent Night ist natürlich kein Film mit einer Nonstop-Action, das ginge ja gar nicht, bzw. er hätte bald nichts Neues zu bieten. Aber auch die langsameren Momente im Stil der Ruhe vor dem Sturm waren selten todernst gemeint und haben mir gefallen. (08.12.2022)

Kurz nach Beginn des Films dachte ich an Stirb langsam und eine Minute später nahm eine der Figuren Bezug auf den legendären Film. Kurz darauf kam Kevin - Allein zu Haus an die Reihe. Die Kombination dieser Weihnachtsklassiker im originellen Gewand mit neuen Elementen bringt eine Genre-Erfrischung und eine entspannte Unterhaltung, obwohl die Filmemacher ziemlich hart waren. John Leguizamo hat man schon lange nicht mehr gesehen. Deshalb hat er den fiesen Schuft mit Komplexen aus der Kindheit sicherlich genossen. (08.12.2023)

A brutally appealing genre film in which heads burn and bodies explode in ultra-fun sequences, it's already achieving slight cult status at the moment and I'll happily include it among my classic Yuletide screenings in the future, i.e. alongside the first two Die Hard movies and Home Alone. Tommy Wirkola is a bit of a freak, but that doesn't take away from his huge dollop of talent and his remarkable flair for scenes that are extremely gory and funny at the same time. Violent Night is horribly irreverent ("Trudy? Well, that makes her sound like a whore."), brutally action-packed fun where you'll soak up the true Christmas spirit like (almost) nowhere else. [80%] (21.12.2022)