Saturdays with Santa: Fatman/Violent Night
Skull-crushing with Saint Nick
I’m running on fumes right now.
As usually happens, it’s been a heck of a December. I’ve been busy bringing work in for a landing (I’m off now for two weeks). We’ve had the last crush of movie reviews and top ten lists. We’ve had Christmas events, holiday gatherings, last-minute shopping and other obligations. I’m tired and, to be honest, feeling the Christmas spirit starting to slip.
So maybe that’s why I’m closing this miniseries with a look at films where Santa kicks some butt. I need to spike the ol’ eggnog a bit.
Badass Santa has become a bit of a subgenre in the holiday canon in recent years. People just love the idea of the jolly old elf slugging it to bad guys and meting out justice, I guess. It makes sense. There’s an inherent humor in mashing up joyful holiday aesthetics with violent beatdowns, and ever since people embraced Die Hard as a Christmas movie (even though Shane Black did it a year earlier with Lethal Weapon), there’s been greater love for some yuletide explosions – why not let Santa light the fuse?
We probably hit peak ripped Santa earlier this year with Red One, the aggressively mediocre Amazon movie starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans and J.K. Simmons. But that’s just the latest in a recent trend of movies that re-interprets Santa as a warrior who might be packing heat under the red coat.
First out of the gate was 2020’s Fatman, starring Mel Gibson as a grizzled Chris Kringle, whose operation has been subsidized by the U.S. government for years. He lives Up North with his wife (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who I should remind you, just gave the best performance of 2024 in Hard Truths). Now, faced with declining Christmas spirit and mounting debts, Santa must accept a military contract to stay afloat. Meanwhile, Walton Goggins plays a ruthless hitman hired by a spoiled rich kid, furious over receiving a lump of coal.
Violent and gritty, the film answers the question: What if Fox News made a Christmas movie? This is good ol’ blue collar Santa, being squeezed by the government and hunted by the elite. He hangs out at a local bar, drives a Ford pickup truck (his sleigh is in the garage) and warns visitors that if they get too close, the reindeer might “tear your whole package” right off. Taken at face value, it might feel bitter and unpleasant, but directors Eshom and Ian Nelms inject enough sly humor to let you know they’re in on the joke.
This isn’t the edgy Christmas revenge thriller the trailers might suggest. Instead, it’s a wry satire on what such a movie could be, with Mel Gibson’s Kris Kringle as its gruff but strangely charismatic heart. Gibson’s performance blends cantankerous charm with a spark of warmth, reminding us that this Santa still cares about his mission — even if the world doesn’t seem to deserve it. The film also revels in its magical elements, subtly blending fantasy with the bleak realism of Santa’s declining business.
Walton Goggins is the perfect counterweight to Gibson, bringing a deliciously dark sense of humor to his role as the vengeful assassin. Whether he’s dispatching elves or interrogating anyone in his path, Goggins exudes unhinged glee, making every scene crackle with chaotic energy. He’s bitter toward Santa and spends his free time collecting Christmas gifts that bear the “Made in Santa’s workshop” seal of approval (this movie suggests that Santa’s an open secret, delivering a few handmade gifts and supported by the U.S. because of his impact on the economy).
Years back, Gibson made a fake trailer for Jimmy Kimmel’s show that imagined the story of KFC’s Col. Sanders as a gritty, Braveheart-esque revenge story. I’m not sure, but at times it feels like the script for Fatman started as one of these joke trailers, and I’m not sure that expanding it to feature length is always successful. There’s a lot of wheel-spinning in the second act, and while the movie largely keeps its tone balanced, sometimes it plays its main joke so dryly that it’s hard to tell whether it is, indeed, a joke. But for those who can appreciate its oddball tone and dark comedy, Fatman is a refreshingly unconventional holiday treat.
Like a cyanide-laced sugarplum, 2023’s Violent Night delivers a jolly yet vicious burst of holiday mayhem. Bloody and crass but brimming with Christmas spirit, it’s a 100-minute joke that works largely because of how seriously everyone involved commits to the bit.
David Harbour stars as a disillusioned Santa Claus, first seen drowning his sorrows at a London pub on Christmas Eve. The holiday blues don’t improve when he encounters a wealthy American family taken hostage by a gang of thieves (led by John Leguizamo). Initially ready to flee, Santa finds his resolve when he discovers a courageous young girl in need of help. Tapping into his past as a Viking warrior, Santa picks up his sledgehammer, Skullcrusher, and doles out bloody justice — one henchman at a time.
Director Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow) delivers a film that gleefully mashes up holiday enchantment with grindhouse violence. This Santa flies with reindeer, uses a magic Naughty and Nice List, and can shimmy up a chimney at will, but he’s also a brutal fighter capable of turning candy canes into shivs and dispatching enemies in shockingly creative ways. The action is outrageously gory, yet the cheerful holiday aesthetic — aided by twinkling lights and festive music — makes it feel like the most warped Christmas movie ever.
The script by Pat Casey and Josh Miller deftly combines holiday tropes like family redemption and the importance of Christmas spirit with the staples of one-man-against-all-odds action flicks. Die Hard and Home Alone are obvious touchstones, with the latter inspiring a sequence of booby traps far more lethal than anything in Chris Columbus’ classic. Meanwhile, Harbour is pitch-perfect as a gruff, weary Santa rediscovering his purpose, and Leguizamo delivers a suitably over-the-top villain. While some side characters veer into cartoonish territory and the violence won’t be for everyone, Violent Night largely sticks its landing.