Die Hard, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Fatman, How The Grinch Who Stole Christmas… the list of yippie-kay-aye Christmas movies is long and deep – and for good reason. From Clark Griswold’s epic Christmas Eve meltdown to Samantha Caine’s jolly threat promise, everyone can relate to the stresses that come with our annual yuletide cheer.
Spoiled children, scheduling nightmares, bickering family members, painful travel, expensive wish lists, impossible-to-find presents – the list goes on and on.
HARK! A VIOLENT NIGHT
We’ve all seen the commercials: tactical Santa from Stranger Things takes on the bad guys at the top of his Naughty List but is Violent Night worth your time and money? We took a few Lodge members to Alamo Drafthouse to check it out for you – here’s what we thought of it!
FILM SPECS:
RATED: R
LENGTH: 1h 41m
CATEGORY: Holiday, Action, Comedy
DIRECTED BY: Tommy Wirkola
IN THEATERS: Dec 2, 2022
STREAMING: NOW!
SPOILER ALERT: VIOLENT NIGHT, HOLY KICK-ASS NIGHT
Violent Night stars David Harbour -Chief Hopper of the Netflix series Stranger Things– as a weary, burned-out Santa Claus. Right off the bat, his character is likable. Drowning his disgust with the commercialism and greed of the holiday season with a pint, Harbour’s Santa oozes the traditional yuletide pain we’ve all felt.
Not for nothing, the Rigor Tortoise video Die Hard, Interrupted is one of my all-time favorite Christmas videos on YouTube and definitely worth the watch!
A clearly unwitting hero, Santa happens to be delivering presents in “the most secure private residence in the country” when a group of bad guys begins a hostile home invasion. Gertrude, the family matriarch played by Christmas Vacation’s Beverly D’Angelo, is apparently on the naughty list. She bursts into the plot early on hurling profane insults and allegedly hoarding $300 million dollars she had embezzled years earlier in her personal safe.
The plot twist comes in when we realize the youngest of the family, a sweet little girl named after the un-matronly matriarch, has a walkie-talkie to the big man himself. Using this, young Gertrude guides Santa on his kick-ass mission to save her and the entire family – whether they deserve it or not.
John Leguizamo plays Scrooge, the ringleader of the group, and unlike Sid the Sloth, his character is neither soft nor loveable. The consummate bad guy, Scrooge even sends a right hook into D’Angelo’s piehole. (and she takes it like a boss!)
WRAP UP:
This movie can be summed up as Die Hard meets Fatman with an element of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and a dash of Home Alone. Mix it all up with a little sarcasm, gratuitous fight scenes, and a plethora of ho-ho holiday references and you’ve got a recipe for a great Christmas movie!
We thought Violent Night was funny, tactical, jolly good fun! For my family of five, the $25 price tag on Amazon Prime Video is much cheaper than five tickets to the movie theater and we’ll definitely be watching this movie for years to come.
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Freedom harlot. Liberty jezebel. Just Jenn.
Born and raised in northern rural Wisconsin, Jenn Jacques is an avid outdoors woman who enjoys hunting, fishing, kayaking, and shooting sports! Fiercely dedicated to bolstering and advancing Second Amendment laws, Jenn is also an outspoken concealed carry advocate and passionately promotes gun safety, earning her the NSSF’s prestigious title of “Local Champion of Gun Safety“.
Jenn is a wife and mother, former private detective, active with the DC Project, and an outspoken responsible gun owner. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and online!
