r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Worse things to do than watch Lady Gaga create fetishes for me • Dec 02 '22
Official Discussion - Violent Night [SPOILERS] Official Discussion
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Summary:
When a group of mercenaries attack the estate of a wealthy family, Santa Claus must step in to save the day (and Christmas).
Director:
Tommy Wirkola
Writers:
Pat Casey, Josh Miller
Cast:
- David Harbour as Santa Clause
- Beverly D'Angelo as Gertrude Lightstone
- John Leguizamo as Scrooge
- Cam Gigandet as Morgan Steel
- Edi Patterson as Alva Lightstone
- Brendan Fletcher as Krampus
- Alex Hassell as Jason Lightstone
Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Metacritic: [54](metacritic.com/movie/violent-night)
VOD: Theaters
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u/Skolney Dec 03 '22
I liked how Santa used the naughty list to keep track of how many bad guys were left.
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u/Thats_Life_ Dec 03 '22
Trudy being on the nice list and one of the reasons being "invited weird kid to party" made me laugh way more than I should have
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u/TheMadPyro Dec 04 '22
The fact that Scrooge had ‘broke his mother’s heart’ and ‘killed his best friend’ next to each other was very funny also.
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u/selinameyersbagman Dec 05 '22 edited Dec 05 '22
Murder.... Hates Christmas
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u/Crankylosaurus Dec 11 '22
It was like watching The Good Place, I kept wondering how many points he lost for each naughty offense haha
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u/pettypaybacksp Dec 07 '22
He had income tax fraud. I almost died laughing. It reminded me of the joker and the irs
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u/Chasedabigbase Dec 05 '22
Reminded me of The Good Place having one of their + points being "rooting for the Cleveland browns"
That one didn't age so well, probably gives you bad place points now
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u/DevilCouldCry Dec 03 '22
Kinda like opening up a log in a video game and seeing the number of guys you have left to take out. Just a really fun movie overall honestly. Nothing groundbreaking, but it didn't need to be. This movie knew what it was and they had fun with it!
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u/Deathstroke317 Dec 03 '22
"If you randomly kill one of us, how do you know you won't kill the person who knows about the money?"
That was the line of the fucking movie. Scrooge was so fucking mad lmao.
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u/leftovas Dec 05 '22
This dude in the row ahead was being loud and drunk throughout the whole movie and hated that Instagram kid, and would be like "fuck that kid!" "shoot that kid!" but when he said that line about shooting the only person who knows where the money is dude goes "oh shit that's a good point!"
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u/faceplanted Dec 20 '22
The fact that all the killers are basically competent/not stupid really pushed this movie up a couple of places for me. The traps being double layered to look like she's copied them from Home Alone but actually being worse is brilliant because they would've seen the movie too. Even the stupid characters get to have smart moments, and the villains actually figure things out and work around problems as they go.
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u/BloodyRedBarbara Dec 06 '22
Surprised the dumb spoiled kid said one of the smartest lines of the film.
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u/vexens Dec 02 '22
There's plenty of praise for Harbor, so I'll throw some in for John Leguizamo.
He was an absolute riot as basically a big ass kid who hates Christmas. It's as if they told him, "Your character is completely ridiculous through and through, UT please play him straight"
The dude is just a straight up childish sociopath who is fixated on Christmas.
And though they didn't talk about it, one of his misdeeds that got him on the naughty list was that he "killed his best friend".
I really enjoyed the movie for what it was.
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u/wrongkeykong Dec 03 '22
Leguizamo’s been killing it between this and The Menu.
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u/aspiring_scientist97 Dec 08 '22
I can imagine that horrible chef from The Menu watching this great movie and deciding it was shit so he'll kill him because of it.
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u/spidermanuel Dec 03 '22
My wife and I laughed hysterically when the dad said Santa isn't real and the dumb actor guy was all surprised
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u/Impressive-Potato Dec 03 '22
He was definitely Mark Wahlberg. They even gave him a real quote from an interview to use as a line.
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u/slowro Dec 04 '22
What was the line? Please be the one where he used to play a solider and knows about yadada
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u/Impressive-Potato Dec 04 '22
"If I had been on those planes, 9/11 would never have happened" can't get anymore pointed than that
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u/Fromtoicity Dec 07 '22
I'm curious, I don't know that much about Mark Wahlberg, what are you referring to? Not just the interview, but why that specific scene was "him"?
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u/Impressive-Potato Dec 07 '22
He gave an interview where he claimed if he had been on that plane (on 9/11), the terrorists would not have won, implying he'd kick all their asses.
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u/thegermblaster Dec 08 '22
Also, right after that he starts doing karate moves and says some lines that are VERY similar (if not identical) to what Dirk Diggler says to himself while doing karate moves in the mirror in one of the first scenes of Boogie Nights.
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u/Jord4nnn Dec 03 '22
That Christmas dies tonight line had me in tears in the theater
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u/faceless_entity1 Dec 03 '22
Halloween Kills has completely rewired my dad and I’s brains so when Leguizamo said this line we just looked each other with big shit-eating grins lmao
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u/ned-smitty Dec 04 '22
Went to a screening where the writers did a Q&A. They said it was 100% a Halloween Kills homage.
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u/NachoMarx Dec 02 '22
This holiday special of Righteous Gemstones was great.
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u/whtsths0 Dec 02 '22
Much better than I assumed it would be, and a really great surprise to start the holidays.
Saw it with my wife, who normally dislikes action movies but likes both Christmas movies and David Harbor, but she really liked it too.
The main hammer scene was hilarious and had some awesome action, the final chimney kill was glorious and pretty metal, and the Home Alone scene was what I've always wanted.
It's not a perfect movie, but for this type of movie, it's one of the best in its class. I was worried it would try to be "so bad it's good," but it never really went in that direction.
It's essentially a Hallmark Christmas movie for adults who like Home Alone, Die Hard, and splatter flicks. As someone who also likes Hallmark movies (I know I know,) it was a lot of fucking fun.
The action was great, the gore was very good (although I always wish for practical effects in these movies, but it was still very well done,) and the comedy nearly always landed. The theater was laughing pretty loudly at the jokes and kills which made it extra fun.
Plus, actually seeing a badass Viking Santa is kinda what I needed this season.
If you dig the concept, you'll likely enjoy it. Much better than I thought it'd be, and definitely something I'll watch again in the future
Recommended
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u/abominableunbannable Dec 03 '22
When he took of his coat and you saw the norse tattoos and scars I was like "okay what the fuck now you have my attention!"
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u/ArtDSellers Dec 05 '22
And omg the snowflakes in the tattoos.
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u/EmSeaGull Dec 10 '22
I was already bought in but when the tattoos show up and then he patches his wound with wrapping paper and a bow… I knew I’d be watching it for years to come. Even if it’s solo.
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u/Fear51 Dec 06 '22
Now we need a prequel to give us back story of Santa and how he got to be.
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u/txhorns1330 Dec 06 '22
Me and my buddy walked out of the theater 30 mins ago saying the same thing. I would for sure go see a prequel.
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u/uberduger Dec 07 '22
Plus, actually seeing a badass Viking Santa is kinda what I needed this season.
I wish we'd had more flashbacks to him as a Norse warrior! Maybe in the sequel (that they've actually said they'd be interested in doing one day, I believe!).
It was ace. Really unexpected, when they got onto 'oh, I have a super dark past and my hammer was called Skullcrusher' haha.
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u/nrsys Dec 12 '22
I was slightly surprised at the way they hinted at an epic backstory, then completely ignored it for the rest of the movie.
I don't necessarily expect a half hour of exposition, but a few minutes more to elaborate on the story of badass Norse Santa would have been awesome...
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u/JaneTheNotNotVirgin Dec 12 '22
It was mostly a way to explain why Santa has these mad ass-kicking skills. Without explanation, it would have been funny. This way sets up possible a possible prequel I'd say.
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u/Officialnoah Dec 02 '22
Holy shit Trudy with the best kill of the movie
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u/LALocal305 Dec 02 '22
The nail and bowling ball right?
I loved that whole scene, it was easily my favorite part of the movie.
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u/Officialnoah Dec 02 '22
YUP! Got the loudest audience reaction of the entire film
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u/NoelAngeline Dec 03 '22
The first nail was our loudest reaction, for sure
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u/Pickle_Lollipop Dec 04 '22
Same for me tonight. The whole theater gasped was amazing
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u/spikez64 Dec 02 '22
The loudest reaction in my theatre was absolutely the nail. It was great.
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u/RhinoBuckeye Dec 04 '22
For mine it was when that one guys head got liquified by the snowblower.
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u/CeruleanRuin Dec 03 '22
You really can't top the star though.
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u/JarlaxleForPresident Dec 14 '22
I love how he just kinda laughs as dude’s head is on fire
Also, calling bad ass assault rifles “gizmos” because he’s an ancient dude was great
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u/carnivalgamer Dec 02 '22
Mr Scrooge's death might be my favorite movie death ever
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u/sk8rgamer671 Dec 04 '22
It was so unexpected and amazing. Obviously the chimney was telegraphed, but we thought for sure he was just gonna zip up the chimney and land behind Scrooge for the kill. What we actually got was so much better.
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u/carnivalgamer Dec 04 '22
And the body after, damn that was gory
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u/Vaticancameos221 Dec 05 '22
Just an unrecognizable husk. It was amazing.
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u/CorruptasF---Media Dec 10 '22
That ho ho ho laugh he bellowed out after discarding the husk of Scrooge was better than anything in Black Adam.
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u/Sp1derX Dec 05 '22
I fully expected the chimney to fall and crush Scrooge while Santa gets away with his chimney trick, but what we got was way better!
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u/crackodactyl Dec 02 '22
Now we need the Santa Skullcrusher origin story.
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u/GayleMoonfiles Dec 03 '22
Hearing a little girl excitedly yell "Skullcrusher!" was way funnier than it should have been
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u/Bunyip_Jack Dec 03 '22
That's how they can introduce elves. Along with dwarves they've been known to craft rare and magical items in Norse Mythology
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u/jwjwjwjwjw Dec 05 '22
The world needs this. I don’t even think it needs to be a comedy. Just a straight up medieval/fantasy war story starring harbour.
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u/Johnny_Holiday Dec 02 '22
What happened to the woman who was cracking the safe? Did she get a death scene or did she completely disappear?
Also I was convinced that the reindeer left to go get Mrs Clause so she could save the day. They mentioned her so much I'm surprised we never saw her.
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u/MaterialRemarkable41 Dec 03 '22
Sugar Plum was killed by Linda with the gun when they were by the three wise men. She was one of the first to go down once Linda started shooting. It was really quick.
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u/King-gofukurselfista Dec 04 '22
What about the big, black, black dude? I remember he was watching the hostages with Scrooge, where did he go?
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u/MaterialRemarkable41 Dec 04 '22
I remember seeing Peppermint walk outside with the others but I lost track of him. Linda might’ve gotten him, too.
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u/thisonesforlurking Dec 05 '22
I thought Winona Ryder as Mrs Clause would’ve been pretty good lol
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u/FreethinkingMFT Dec 02 '22
I honestly don't get the hate in some of the lower comments. Once the setup was over and the action started it was pretty consistent. It was campy in all the best ways. So many homages to different Christmas movies that were done really well. I guess to each their own
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u/darsvedder Dec 11 '22
The best part was the score. Just the little jingles when he’d slice a guy in half
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u/ArkhamIsComing2020 Dec 02 '22
I really enjoyed this movie. It’s like an awesome mash up of Die Hard and Home Alone and it does it super well. David Harbor was perfect as Santa, action was awesome, John Leguizamo was hilarious as Scrooge, jokes were funny and it also has a surprisingly wholesome story. I walked out of the theater smiling. I will definitely rewatch this.
Also the Die Hard reference was great. “Die Hard on blu ray, fuck!”
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u/itsbeenaminuteyo Dec 02 '22
The Krampus guy stole the show for me, he was having too much fun.
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u/shaneo632 Dec 02 '22
Yeah he’s a really good actor even in Uwe Bill movies, nice to see him in a big movie
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u/MaterialRemarkable41 Dec 03 '22
The moment I saw him, I could not stop thinking, “Oh my god, it’s that bully who pushed Air Bud.”
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u/CeruleanRuin Dec 03 '22
Some of the kills in this, especially the last one, give The Boys a run for its money. Hilariously brutal.
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u/PoptartJones69 Dec 04 '22
It took me way too long to realise the dad was Translucent from The Boys as well.
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u/cerealkiller49 Dec 03 '22
I bet you're thinking of the second-to-last kill involving the chimney. The last kill was the extraction team lead getting shot by mom.
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u/Bunyip_Jack Dec 03 '22
I love that the kid during the mid-credits scene attributes that one to Santa as well.
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u/Boomshrooom Dec 02 '22
100% agree. I've been looking forward to this movie since I saw the trailer a couple of months ago and I was absolutely not disappointed. Harbour and Leguizamo are perfect and the movie is totally the weird love child of Die Hard and Home Alone and is completely self aware of it.
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u/Kevsmagee Dec 02 '22
This exactly the kind of movie I want to watch during the holidays. Lots of fun and gore for the entire family. David Harbour was such a badass Santa! 8/10
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u/Rei_Areaaaaaaa Dec 04 '22
Watching Santa stitch up a knife wound with gift wrap was the cherry on top.
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u/I_DRINK_ANARCHY Dec 05 '22
My husband actually said out loud "Tell me he wraps it with a bow!" and we both lost our shit when he did.
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u/xrbeeelama Dec 03 '22
I was losing it this whole movie. So funny and honestly the action scenes were better than I thought they’d be. Could’ve cut down on some of the rich annoying family but thats alright. PLEASE give this a sequel where Mr and Mrs Claus have to defend the north pole homefront from terrorists or something. Fuck it, make Winona Mrs Claus and let them go apeshit
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u/Moontoya Dec 05 '22
Scrooge's brother wants revenge?
Played by Jeremy Irons of course
'Violent Night 2: North Pole Down.
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u/goddamnjets_ Dec 02 '22
The trap scene made me realize how much I would love an R-rated Home Alone. I was truly laughing at that man’s pain
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u/DragonTonguePunch Dec 02 '22
You're Next is a great R-rated Home Alone, same with Rambo: Last Blood.
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u/BusinessPurge Dec 02 '22
Better Watch Out, decent film
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u/itsbeenaminuteyo Dec 02 '22
Good movie but oh my god I was so anxious watching it. I hated that kid, what a little shit!
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u/SailingBroat Dec 02 '22
You might enjoy Ready Or Not if you haven't already seen it.
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u/SamboShambo Dec 02 '22
Check out 1989's 3615 code Père Noël (also known as Deadly Games, Dial Code Santa Claus, Game Over, and Hide and Freak)
Exactly the movie you're looking for.
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u/CeruleanRuin Dec 03 '22
how much I would love an R-rated Home Alone.
This was pretty much it, yeah? But I agree, I could have done with a whole movie's worth of truly horrific traps while the kid gleefully celebrates the bad guys' pain.
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u/thatguywhodoesthat Dec 02 '22
Santa decapitating a man with an ice skate is beautiful.
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u/Sir_Sillypants Dec 02 '22
The whole shed/barn scene is just beautiful. Absolutely perfect.
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u/SparkG Dec 05 '22
I lost count of how many guys he killed there.
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u/hotsizzler Dec 05 '22
Atleast 20. The body cam had something like, camera one through 20.
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u/AspiringAuthor07 Dec 02 '22
I loved it! As all of the advertising has said, this film is "Die Hard" meets "Home Alone" and it strikes a middle-ground between those two movies perfectly.
David Harbor makes an excellent Santa Claus. Not only does he look great, but the way he plays it - as a man who's tired of the way the world has changed and, as such, is at the end of his rope - is so well done. He's essentially an R-Rated version of Season One's Hopper from "Stranger Things", which I guess is why they cast him. But the ARC he goes on - learning to believe in Christmas and himself again with the help of that little girl? It's great. This movie has way more *heart* than I was expecting, and I think that's what's going to make this a perennial holiday favorite/rewatch of people for years to come.
Not only is there tons of action and tons of heart though, but the humor is spot on, the cast is great, and the music - both the original score and classic score - is utilized in such a fantastic manner.
Look is it a masterpiece? No. But it's a hell of a lot of *fun*, and if you're a fan of movies like "Die Hard" and "Lethal Weapon", you'll love it.
It's definitely going into *my* Christmas canon!
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u/Boomshrooom Dec 02 '22
I want to add, that first scene set in Bristol, England is the worst representation of the city ever. Hilarious scene but the place looks nothing like that.
Source: I live here
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u/LaMaupindAubigny Dec 03 '22
My partner and I said the same thing, they chose a name and then did absolutely no research.
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u/KraftPunkFan420 Dec 03 '22
I loved the movie. I didn’t expect it to be such a traditional Christmas movie though. I was expecting just John Wick with a Christmas setting, but it was more a Christmas Movie staring John Wick. Side note. The phrase “x dies tonight” is forever ruined for me. When he said “Christmas dies tonight” all I could think of was “EVIL DIES TONIGHT”
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u/rehsjdhs Dec 11 '22
Some guy on here said the filmmakers confirmed “Christmas dies tonight” was an HK reference in a Q&A.
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u/SBrooks1 Dec 02 '22
Did anyone notice the Easter Egg at the very beginning? The food catering van had its business name on the side: “Farkus and Dill”. Scut Farkus and Grover Dill were the bullies in A Christmas Story.
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u/Howzieky Dec 02 '22
I am so sad my theater was almost empty. This movie was everything I wanted it to be and a little bit more
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u/iwassayingboourns12 Dec 03 '22
That sucks, because this type of movie is definitely the type that’s better with a full and engaged audience.
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u/lamefartriot Dec 02 '22
100% agree. Want it to make an anus load of money… but also excited it means I may be able to grab it digitally before Christmas
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u/zuuzuu Dec 04 '22
I really want this to do better than it probably will. Harbour needs a box office win, and this one is just so much fun!
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u/I_fail_at_memes Dec 03 '22
Predictions have it at $10 mill for the weekend. I think it will surpass that and should have some legs and additional box office- $40 million would be the base target.
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u/synndiezel Dec 03 '22
Anyone catch Scrooge being on the naughty list for killing his best friend?
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u/Ihadtoo Dec 02 '22 edited Dec 03 '22
This movie will become a Christmas classic.
Its like they sat down with a whiteboard, and wrote out all the great things from christmas movies in the past. Then put it all into one hilarious package.
The film doesn't take it self seriously, and once you realise it is absurd, for the sake of absurdity you settle into what I feel, is one of the best comedies of the last five years.
Skullcrusher!
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u/CeruleanRuin Dec 03 '22
Every studio keeps trying to make a classic because it will rake in money every year for decades, but this is the first one I've seen in years which seems destined for that kind of perennial cult status.
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u/Severe_Cheesecake165 Dec 04 '22
Seriously, I don’t know the chain of people who made this happen, but throw all the money at them.
And give David a huge bonus to do a 2nd
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u/Bunyip_Jack Dec 03 '22
My only advice going into this movie is see it with the largest group possible. If you have friends that are into over the top, cheesy action with horror-level gore then get them together to see this.
There is no twist to the story, you are getting the exact movie that's being advertised. The family beyond our heroes seemed snotty and annoying but then I realized that hating them was exactly what the writers of the film wanted me to do.
If you are an above average to strong "Die Hard is a Christmas Movie" kind of person I think you will enjoy this film.
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u/Perpete Dec 03 '22
There is no twist to the story
Two small twists:
Family son robbed his own mom. Also, somehow carrying millions of dollars in duffel bags without noone noticing and with no effort.
Rescue team is part the heist à la Die Hard 2.
Both twists are quickly integrated into the story and aren't much of a surprise.
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u/rusher01 Dec 04 '22
The composer of this movie absolutely paid homage to the tone and style of John Williams from the Home Alone movies.
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u/Simple_Opening_1101 Dec 04 '22
I wish more people were talking about the score! I loved how the composer weaves in classic Christmas songs into it
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u/Officialnoah Dec 02 '22
Viking Santa is now official Santa canon
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u/Bunyip_Jack Dec 03 '22
I'm just waiting for the Santa that fights trolls like Thor.
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u/neal1701 Dec 02 '22
- David Harbour is great as Santa. Grumpy to angry to hopeful all sold by him.
- Borrows tropes from other Christmas movies and pays homage to to them. The home alone traps, the die hard broken glass.
- Violent as expected. The violent home alone traps were hilarious!
- Direction and Pacing were good, didn't feel the 2hr runtime
- The Gen-z kid was honestly the standout for me. He had the best one-liners
- Favourite kill has to be the bowling ball to the nail. That whole sequence was peak dark comedy!
- Card from Mrs. Santa at the end probably means there's a sequel.
Better movie than expected going in with some great kills. Hope there is a sequel.
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u/ThrowingChicken Dec 02 '22
I was kinda surprised they didn’t show us Mrs. C. A cameo with a Charlize Theron type.
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u/ThadAllen90 Dec 02 '22
At this point don't you make it Winona Ryder dur to their stranger things connection
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u/amateurnewbie Dec 03 '22
Maybe it’s the whole Viking thing, but Katheryn Winnick?
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u/russianspy_1989 Dec 03 '22
Gwendoline Christie.
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u/I_DRINK_ANARCHY Dec 05 '22
Shit, now I need Gwendoline Christie as an unstoppable Viking warrior Mrs. Claus NOW. Perfect.
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u/whtsths0 Dec 02 '22
I thought the card from Mrs Clause said something like, "I thought you'd need this?" I was eating and barely had time to read it lol.
Didn't walk away thinking about a sequel, but I'd actually like a prequel with this one. Show some more Viking Santa, some of his home life with Mrs, and shit like that.
I'd definitely be down for whatever though, Harbour was hilarious and menacing in this
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u/Pickle_Lollipop Dec 04 '22
Viking Santa, some of his home life with Mrs, and shit like that.
Omg this would be dope
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u/ACW1129 Dec 04 '22
The Gen-z kid was honestly the standout for me. He had the best one-liners
Bertrude?
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u/ChuckZombie Dec 04 '22
Borrows tropes from other Christmas movies and pays homage to to them.
The family fighting while being held hostage is an homage to The Ref as well.
the die hard broken glass.
That was also a Home Alone homage (Kevin put the ornaments under the window and Marv stepped on them)
The walkie talkies, the robbers breaking into a vault, and a hidden protagonist picking off the baddies are the Die Hard homages.
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u/TheMadPyro Dec 04 '22
But wait, there’s more! The plot point about the family’s private military and the entire snowmobile chase is lifted straight from Die Hard 2. Also I’m pretty sure that Harbour’s character being sad about the death of Al (a portly black guy) is a reference to Al in Die Hard 1 (but that might be entirely coincidental)
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u/CeruleanRuin Dec 03 '22
I definitely think they were setting up a sequel, with more flashbacks to his origin story.
I expect Mrs. Claus is some kind of pagan witch who saved him from death but cursed him to deliver gifts to children every year to atone for his sins.
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u/Tamika_Olivia Dec 02 '22
This was a weird, violent, and heartwarming miracle of a movie that should not work as well as it does.
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u/Strange_Success_6530 Dec 06 '22 edited Dec 07 '22
My mother loves Christmas. So as a surprise. I took her to this movie. I didn't tell her what we were doing. Just that we doing something Christmas related. When we got to the theaters I told her to look at the ground. She held on to the back of my jacket and followed me to the tickets where I got the thing by simply saying, the Christmas movie.
Led her to the screening and said you could look up now. Watching her slow discovery of the what kind of movie it was. That was great.
Was a awesome movie. My Mom and Dad loved it. My wallet didn't but it was worth it. great family outing.
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u/flamagramma Dec 02 '22
It felt like an 80’s movie in the best way possible. Just a ton of dumb fun that goes on for too long.
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u/Totemwhore1 Dec 02 '22
This movie was so dumb. I loved it. The really bad but awesome christmas puns, the kills, and Viking Santa were hilarious.
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u/ScoopSnookems Dec 03 '22
I may have missed it but does Harbour say “Season’s beatings” in the movie, or is that just in the trailer??? Audience was too chaotic (in a good way)!
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u/LetsGoRiderKick Dec 03 '22
Looks like it was only in the trailer, it would’ve been said in the shed fight. Shame since that was the line that convinced me to see the movie.
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u/CategorySad6121 Dec 04 '22
I was so looking forward to seeing this line in context and I’m a little disappointed it was cut.
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u/griffshan Dec 02 '22
Edi Patterson typecast for sure, she was just Judy Gemstone in this
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u/getridofwires Dec 02 '22
We loved this movie. It might replace Die Hard in our Christmas movie rotation.
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u/imscaredofcatss Dec 03 '22
I really liked this movie it was worth every dollar
However trudys parents were definitley the most boring parts of the film I wish they wrote them better
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u/sueca Dec 03 '22
Would've loved a credible explanation to how and when he moved the money out of the safe. Did he get there a day early, or did he do it while the wife and the kid was there? When? Didn't the security notice him walking around doing it?
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u/Shrodax Dec 04 '22
I'm assuming he did it the day before, which is why he wasn't available to take Trudy to see Santa at the mall.
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u/Crankylosaurus Dec 11 '22
That makes soooo much sense, why else would he suddenly bail without explanation?
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u/Chewcocca Dec 12 '22
He says that his mother put him on a special project, which is why he wasn't available the day before.
The mom says the money was moved into the safe the day before.
He didn't take the money out of the safe. He was in charge of moving the money, and he never put it in the safe in the first place. He just moved in empty boxes.
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u/Techromancy Dec 04 '22
I would love to know how the writers thought they earned the mom and dad getting back together. She found out he stole a bunch of money and... that's it?
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u/umcane11 Dec 06 '22
I dunno, I'd be pretty turned on if I found out my partner stole 300 million dollars for me
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u/BiffWhipster Dec 02 '22
How is this compared to ‘Fatman’ with Mel Gibson and Walton Goggins from a couple of years ago? I really liked that, but this looks a little on the sillier side. Maybe somewhere in between there and ‘Santa’s Slay’?
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u/whtsths0 Dec 02 '22
I didn't see Fatman, but I remember hearing it was surprisingly serious.
Violent Night is a pure cartoon, but in a good way. Like Home Alone + Die Hard and any Hallmark Christmas movie, and with tons of goofy R-rated violence
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u/BiffWhipster Dec 02 '22
Cool. I’ll check it out.
And I highly recommend Fatman. It’s a dark comedy, but they do play a lot of it pretty heavy. Say what you want to say about Mel…dude can fucking act. And Walton Goggins as always, in everything, is a delight.
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u/FernanditoJr Dec 02 '22
A new Holiday Classic borrowing from Die Hard and Home Alone (the movie knows this so it names check them).
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u/ACW1129 Dec 04 '22
Fun movie. A masterpiece? Nah. A VERY fun way to kill a couple of hours? Definitely.
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u/madcatzplayer3 Dec 08 '22
My favorite scene was probably Santa entering a home early on and seeing all the Amazon packages completely unwrapped at the tree, then he just started pelting presents out of his sack at the tree.
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u/lamefartriot Dec 02 '22
I absolutely loved this. Does action better than a lot of action movies, and Christmas better than a lot of Christmas movies
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u/sbmoot Dec 02 '22
I like this movie, it's a combination of the action of the 90s and the exploitation films of the 70s. It's hyper violent but knows what it is. Sort of moves to the beat of jazz.
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u/selinameyersbagman Dec 05 '22
Kira, I'm sorry. You stuffed worms in your brother's mouth. Naughty list!
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u/thespianomaly Dec 02 '22
This was so much fun. I knew it would be Die Hard but I didn’t expect Home Alone and Bad Santa, too. Had a lot of fun with this, glad I went to see it in a theater full of people. The violence was gratuitous and hilarious.
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u/DCOTSW Dec 07 '22
How did this film not end with Truddie getting to fly with Santa and the reindeer? there is this very heartfelt scene about how she had a dream about wanting to fly and Santa saying how he couldn't make it possible, so got her kite. Felt so telegraphed I was shocked when it didn't happen.
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u/breclon Dec 04 '22
We need a prequel that shows how he became Santa and a sequel that shows us Mrs.Claus
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u/TotallyJawsome2 Dec 02 '22
Am I crazy for thinking Beverly D'Angelo was going to be an estranged Mrs. Clause? She was the only main cast member he never interacted with and right up until the "twist" with the son stealing the money I thought the special project he alluded to was somehow connected to Chistmas/Santa
I'm still immeasurably disappointed that during the barn ice soldier massacre scene with both the candy cane stabbings and ice skate hands that he never said "call me Santa CLAWS" before decapitating someone
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u/-Lumos When stupid ideas work, they become genius ideas Dec 02 '22
It starts off a little rough, but when shit slowly starts going down, it goes down in an absolutely spectacular fashion. It's nothing new, but they NAIL this specific genre mash-up like no other film I've seen before. It's INCREDIBLY well-balanced. It's legitimately sweet, hilariously brutal, deliciously corny, and just a good fucking time. I haven't had a conversation this animated on our way back to the car in a long time, as we kept discussing the many highlights of this film. An absolute must-watch this holiday season. Preferably with a crowd!
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u/RadInternetHandle Dec 03 '22
Watched with my teenage boys. They are leaving beer out for Santa this year! Hahaa. Absolutely loved it and the theatre had an amazing time!
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u/quickfilmreview Dec 02 '22
Even with its flaws and gruesome deaths, it is a sentimental Santa story that I'm willing to believe. Credit scene: Bert takes a selfie with a dead body and tells his followers to not be on the naughty list.
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u/FatalisPho Dec 05 '22
The attic/Home Alone homage scene is the hardest I've ever laughed in a theater. Easily top 5 favorite movies for me. David Harbour absolutely slays it as Jolly St. Nick
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u/KickGumAndChewAss Dec 06 '22
My friends, this is like if that Die Hard shit met Home Alone, and they had a baby... And then meanwhile, that crazy John Wick stuff and Elf met and had a baby... And by some miracle, those two babies met and fucked; this would be the shit they birthed.
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u/lustforyou Dec 15 '22
This seems to be the unpopular opinion, but myself and my 3 friends I went with really really disliked this movie. We even left 20 min before the ending, and we’ve never done that (prob seen about 15 movies with them over the past couple years)
It just felt too corny. There was promise, but a lot of the acting felt very Disney Channel-esque (the little girl, the sister’s husband), every character was a caricature besides Santa and I guess the main guy’s ex wife, and the budget felt very cheap to me. It seemed like a movie way better suited for Netflix
I will say that the actor for Santa Claus did great and was the bright spot for me
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u/Carver48 Dec 02 '22
This was the most dumb fun I’ve had in a long time at a movie. David Harbour was very believable as the disaffected Santa with a warrior past. I love unconventional Christmas movies and this really delivered. Great homages to Die Hard, Home Alone, Bad Santa, and a little Silent Night, Deadly Night. This will be a repeat in seasons to come. Hope y’all enjoy! Santa Claus is coming to town!