Violent Night

Universal Pictures | Release Date: December 2, 2022

6.5	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 125 Ratings

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Rebecca31Dec 11, 2022

If you’re going to remake Die Hard……don’t. T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for the group of mercenaries that show up to rob the estate of a very wealthy family. Only one manIf you’re going to remake Die Hard……don’t. T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for the group of mercenaries that show up to rob the estate of a very wealthy family. Only one man can save the day and that man is John McClane......oops sorry, no that man is Santa Claus. Yes, the criminals are unfortunate enough to show up just as Santa Claus (David Harbour) is delivering presents. Santa, who after many years delivering presents to increasingly greedy and selfish children has grown weary of the job and is in some desperate need of rediscovering the true meaning of Christmas. And if he has to smash a few bad guys heads in to discover that well then welcome to Violent Night.

Violent Night is violent and it’s set at night. If you expect any more than that, well then you’re probably going to be disappointed. My expectations were too high for this and yes it’s a little unfair to compare Violent Night to Die Hard but then again this is basically a half-hearted attempt at a remake. But you can’t remake Die Hard, it’s just not possible, there’s been four sequels trying to recreate the first one and they’ve all failed spectacularly. Sorry guys, substituting McClane for Santa Claus sounded good on paper but the result is far from a violent delight. John Leguizamo is hardly Hans Gruber. The scenes and dialogue straight up lifted from Die Hard will only remind you of what a good Christmas action movie is.

The only good thing Violent Night got right was the casting because David Harbour as the drunk pissed off Santa was perfect. There was more potential there that ends up being completely wasted. Just a shame the movie itself wasn’t better. Violent Night is a dragged out, boring action movie not worth freezing yourself to sit through. That’s right, yet again I unexpectedly got the 4D experience in another Odeon cinema. Seriously lads, why try turn the 6 people who showed up to Violent Night into icicles? That hardly seems like a good way to get people to come out to the cinemas.

Violent Night is a piss-poor Die Hard remake with a dash of Home Alone thrown in the mix in the desperate attempt to create something entertaining. So many Christmas references and puns, not to mention all the creative was to kill the bad guys with all the festive decorations. Christmas lights, tinsel, sharpened candy canes, they’re all in there. There was a good idea here but badly executed.

Clearly my expectations were set far too high so if you are planning on seeing Violent Night this Christmas, be sure to lower those expectations as much as possible and hopefully you’ll get more out of it than I did. Recommended for anyone looking for a mindless action flick. Or you could go ahead and book yourself a ticket for Die Hard and/or Home Alone in the cinema. Most cinemas will bring back the classics during the Christmas season so pick a cinema that will actually turn on the heating and enjoy.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

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PanchogulDec 7, 2022

Cliché, mediocre y predecible, aparte de ridícula y absurda es la peor película del año.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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CalebAugDec 5, 2022

Could have been a fun concept, even if dumb. The acting, casting, characters, dialogue, action, jokes, and everything else were

1 of 9 users found this helpful18

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imthenoobJan 22, 2023

This is exactly the kind of movie you would expect it to be if you've seen the trailer for it. Simplistic plot, Weak acting, and Unlikable characters. This movie knows exactly what it is and it doesn't try to be anything more than that. It'sThis is exactly the kind of movie you would expect it to be if you've seen the trailer for it. Simplistic plot, Weak acting, and Unlikable characters. This movie knows exactly what it is and it doesn't try to be anything more than that. It's the kind of movie that you have to shut off your brain to enjoy and even that is a challenge.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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DangrialDec 14, 2022

Un verdadero horror de pelicula no es graciosa y una violencia estupids y exagerada que no venia a cuento, no merece la pena ir al cine a verla, mejor una siesta mientras la veas en streaming.

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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raybassDec 15, 2022

Literally THE worst movie I’ve watched this year. I’ve never seen such a bad and nonsense writing before. Please safe your time and money, the movie feels like 2 brain dead monkeys have written it.

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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flynnalekDec 12, 2022

The movie feels like the writing room went around the table and asked for anyone's ideas, like that Key & Peele sketch about Gremlins 2, but didn't execute any of it well (except for, again, the Home Alone scene. That was cool.).

I couldThe movie feels like the writing room went around the table and asked for anyone's ideas, like that Key & Peele sketch about Gremlins 2, but didn't execute any of it well (except for, again, the Home Alone scene. That was cool.).

I could continue on and on about this dumpster fire. It's only redeeming quality is that it certainly is at least… unique? That's being generous. Its uniqueness is purely in the fact that they made a movie about Santa beating up bad guys. But everything else was derivative and lame.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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SchonDec 28, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. To call this movie a piece of Human Feces is to insult Feces. So much unnecessary ridiculous violence as to ruin the campiness of the film. What a waste… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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HonestReviews66Apr 30, 2023

So boring I stopped watching within half an hour!!! Just terrible. Avoid!!!

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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DobianJan 22, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A total mess of a movie. Nothing but a hatchet job by hack Hollywood writers stealing from older films. I lost count of the number of movies Violent Night rips off... Bad Santa, Home Alone, Die Hard, Silent Night Deadly Night, The Ref, Christmas Vacation. The writing and direction is so lazy, they don't even try to disguise the plagiarism, from stepping on nails stuck in glue to stomping on ornaments in bare feet, to mishaps on a ladder. This movie doesn't know what it's trying to be - family comedy, cute caper, schlock horror, feel good movie. It switches from one to the other in the same scene sometimes. The story's gimmick is that this is indeed the real Santa Claus, except there is nothing "Santa" about him other than the beard and the suit. He's heavily tattooed and was formerly some kind of Viking warrior. Huh? He doesn't even know how the whole Santa thing works, which implies he sort of fell into the role by accident. But there is never any explanation about this. The only lore you get is St. Nick on some medieval battlefield with his beloved hammer. The main couple isn't believable at all and the writers give them some manufactured relationship drama that is simply mentioned in a single line so that their daughter has a reason to Christmas wish them back together. Except they're already together. Who wrote this, high school students? And Beverly D'Angelo is completely wasted. I guess she got a good paycheck. I'm glad I didn't go to the theaters for this train wreck and watched it on Peacock.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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