Genre: Holiday, Action, Comedy
Directed by Tommy Wirkola
Produced by Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, Guy Danella
Written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller
Starring: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson, Cam Gigandet, Leah Brady & Beverly D’Angelo.
Cinematography: Matthew Weston
Edited by Jim Page
Music by Dominic Lewis
Production companies: 87North Productions, 87North
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
The plot: An elite team of mercenaries breaks into a family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone hostage inside. However, they aren’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.
Violent Night was a good time.
Pros: The film does feel similar to Die Hard. David Harbour was so good playing Santa Claus. It lives up to the title of the movie. I like how every character played around with “the meaning of Christmas” and the little girl who helped Santa she was a joy to watch too.
Cons: I have no bad things about this movie.
The Casts:
- David Harbour as Santa Claus, a legendary Christmas gift-bringer and former Viking warrior.
- John Leguizamo as Jimmy “Mr. Scrooge” Martinez, the leader of the mercenaries.
- Alex Hassell as Jason Lightstone, Gertrude’s son who is considered her favorite.
- Alexis Louder as Linda Matthews, Jason’s estranged wife and an engineer who is forced to spend the holidays at the house so that the couple’s daughter can have a nice Christmas and who has been accused of being a gold digger by Jason’s family.
- Edi Patterson as Alva Lightstone, Gertrude’s hard-drinking daughter who wants to take over the family business as CEO over her brother.
- Cam Gigandet as Morgan Steel, Alva’s boyfriend and a wannabe action star/filmmaker who wants Gertrude to be the benefactor of his next movie.
- Leah Brady as Trudy Lightstone, the daughter of Jason and Linda.
- Beverly D’Angelo as Gertrude Lightstone, the foul-mouthed matriarch who heads the family corporation and makes her kids fight for her love and money.
- Brendan Fletcher as “Krampus“, Mr. Scrooge’s lead henchman.
- André Eriksen as “Gingerbread“, Mr. Scrooge’s henchman who poses as Gertrude’s butler.
- Alexander Elliot as Bertrude “Bert” Lightstone, Alva’s teenage influencer son from her first marriage.
- Mike Dopud as Commander Thorp, a “kill squad” leader who is secretly in league with Mr. Scrooge.
- Mitra Suri as “Candy Cane”, a mercenary working for Mr. Scrooge.
- Stephanie Sy as “Sugarplum”, a mercenary working for Mr. Scrooge.
- Sean Skene as a mercenary working for Mr. Scrooge who poses as a lead bodyguard.
- Can Aydin as “Frosty”, a mercenary working for Mr. Scrooge.
- Cha-Lee Yoon as Techie, a hacker working for Mr. Scrooge.
- Phong Giang as “Tinsel”, a mercenary working for Mr. Scrooge.
- Erik Athavale as Richard.
I highly recommend watching this film over the charismas holiday.
Rating: 5 of out 5 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident film reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe.