“If you believe in this spirit thing, the miracle will happen, and then you’ll want it to happen again tomorrow… It can happen every day, you’ve just got to want that feeling.”
– Bill Murray in SCROOGED
That’s right – it’s time to feel the moment and that holiday spirit thing. It’s time for Spoiler Free Review’s 12 days of Christmas 2022 edition! We will be posting our favorite holiday experiences with 12 reviews and illustrations of movies, TV, and music. So sit back, enjoy some spiked eggnog, and enjoy to SFR’s 12-days of Christmas 2022! 🎅
I’m a child of the ’90s. The kind of action I grew up with is not the same action that is regular Fair all these years later. Back in my day, we had action legends like Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis, Chan, and Snipes, among many others. These men made their names not by being a part of franchises with an existing IP per sé but by being in well-done, R-rated, bloody action flicks…with VERY, VERY ridiculous premises. Premises that are so ridiculous that they can only be categorized as a movie of the ‘90s.
Because of that, VIOLENT NIGHT is right in my f****** wheelhouse. This is 1 billion percent a ’90s film in a different period. It’s the kind of rollicking, bloody, wildly profane kind of action movie that I got my aunt to rent from Blockbuster when I was a preteen.
VIOLENT NIGHT all at once is two things:
- A very mean-spirited film. Not because of all the blood and violence but because a vast majority of the characters themselves are not kind people. In dealing with these characters, we see the acerbic nature of the dialogue in the film. Even Santa Claus, as a cynical, alcoholic curmudgeon, has a lot of bad Santa-worthy dialogue to keep the audience laughing.
- A low-key heartfelt Christmas movie. It’s surprisingly filled with a lot of heartfelt moments. Most of them are cliché, but they lean into the clichés so hard that I’m pretty sure it’s by design.
This movie’s action is top-notch, particularly the hand-to-hand fight sequences. They are shot very well and executed in a very nostalgic way. This has been described as DIE HARD meets HOME ALONE, and though that statement is absolutely true, the action is WAY more hardcore than any of those films.
David Harbour is perfect to play this kind of role. Like in STRANGER THINGS, he is the ideal combination of rugged and grouchy yet lovable and charismatic. He is the kind of actor that treats heartfelt moments earnestly and ramps it up to level 10 whenever things get really silly. Considering the material he has to work with, that’s very impressive.
The film is fun from beginning to end in a way that gratifies ’90s babies such as myself. And depending on how much fun you’re willing to have going into something with such a ridiculous premise, this may be one of those yearly Christmas watches for a certain type of film fan. This is one of the more fun films of 2022, honest to goodness, and one of the better Christmas movies to come along in many years.
VIOLENT NIGHT is in theaters now.