The holiday season of 2022 is finally on the way, with Halloween just 3 weeks away. Of course, billions of people already have their minds attuned to the Christmas season, among them the countless children of the world hoping to be on Jolly Old Saint Nick’s nice list.
However, one must bear in mind that Santa Claus’ most wrathful, punitive action for those on the naughty list is going to be dished out on December 24th, a point that “Violent Night” is well-positioned to stress!
The upcoming Christmas-themed action movie is set to hit theaters on December 2nd, with the first trailer for the film online, which you can see below!
Santa Means Business in “Violent Night”
In “Violent Night”, a team of mercenary thieves led by Ben (John Leguizamo) breaks into the estate of a wealthy family on Christmas Eve, determined to steal the $300 million in the family’s vault.
However, as many an action movie trailer has said before, there was one man they didn’t count on, namely the man in red himself, Santa Claus, who has just dropped down the family’s chimney.
Making matters worse for the thieves is that Santa, contrary to his warm and fuzzy reputation, handles a Christmas Eve hostage situation in the same way John “Die Hard” McClane himself would.
David Harbour, well-known as Jim Hopper on Netflix’s “Stranger Things” takes on the butt-kicking spin on Santa Claus seen in the trailer for “Violent Night”.
Much to the surprise of both the family in the estate and the mercenaries, Santa’s tools of gift-giving on Christmas Eve are equally effective as weapons of combat, including his sack of toys. Harbour’s Santa himself is also a very skilled fighter all round, but of course, that’s only to be expected of a Yuletide action movie from 87 North Productions and the stunt team on board who have also dropped down the chimney.
87 North and Reel Deal Action Bring the Thunder to “Violent Night”!
Co-produced by David Leitch with 87 North Productions acting as distributor, “Violent Night” has the fingerprints of both all over it with director Tommy Wirkola giving the proceedings much red-nosed flair.
The 87 Eleven crew are, of course, most famous for the “John Wick” franchise, while numerous stunt pros connected to 87 Eleven have done stunts and fight choreography on everything from superhero movies like “Aquaman”, “Birds of Prey”, and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” to more down to Earth action movies like “Nobody”, “Kate”, and this year’s “Bullet Train”.
Add in some of Germany’s Reel Deal Action pros like Can Aydin and Phong Giang to the mix (who can be seen in such action hits as “One Million K(l)icks”, “Plan B”, and “Skylin3s”), and “Violent Night” looks like quite the stocking stuffer for action fans this holiday season.
John Leguizamo’s Villainy is Excellent!
As the leader of the villains, John Leguizamo’s ‘Ben’ also looks like a blast of acidic, scene-chewing fun. Leguizamo’s comedic chops always bring the fireworks in family-friendly fare like the “Ice Age” franchise, while his sharp-tongued New York accent is a great addition to villain roles (even under a mountain of make-up like the Clown in “Spawn”).
Ben’s steadfast skepticism about the existence of Santa even in the face of two-fisted evidence is bound to make the evening’s events a not-so-Holly Jolly Christmas for him, and Leguizamo’s talent for both comedy and villainy looks ready to add an unusually welcome lump of coal under the tree for “Violent Night”.
“Violent Night” Brings a Novelty to Christmas
Christmas-themed action movies are a somewhat infrequent but nevertheless reliably fun curveball for the holiday season.
The idea of Santa Claus as a full-blown action hero in the “John Wick” mold is quite the first even for that concept, and “Violent Night” has all the tools in its sleigh to make that concept a winning one.
While James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” will bring the most eye-popping visual effects imaginable for Christmas 2022, “Violent Night” looks content to just pop eyes, albeit only of those on the naughty list.
As Santa himself warns in the “Violent Night” trailer, he’s ready to bring some of the season’s beating greetings. Of course, one would only expect as much from Harbour’s Santa, with how well he would fit right into the Bonestorm commercial from “The Simpsons”!
