Movie Review: Violent Night (R – 112 minutes)

 

There’s always something to be said for a movie that delivers exactly what it promises.

Violent Night begins with the real Santa Claus in a bar, tired, worn out, drunk and depressed at the general lack of Christmas spirit in the world.  He is feeling unappreciated and thinking about a way out because not even his own Christmas magic (that he doesn’t really understand) is helping him cope.  Meanwhile, we meet Jason Lightstone, being picked up by his wife, Linda, and daughter, Trudy, to head to his wealthy mother’s for Christmas. We gather fairly quickly from context that they have recently split, and Trudy is not handling the separation well.  Once they arrive at the house, we also gather from context that mother Lightstone, Gertrude, is very wealthy, and between Jason and his sister Alva, they gather every holiday to attempt to get some of her money.  Jason seems to be putting a plan in place to end this nonsense and hopefully win back Linda.

As the family are proving how terrible they are, Santa is going house to house and enters the Lightstone residence just as it is infiltrated by criminals looking to steal the three million dollars in the Lightstone safe. Trudy manages to contact Santa via walkie talkie, and her faith in him and Christmas restores a bit of his as he takes steps to save her – by whatever means necessary.

The movie is fast paced and violent as hell.  Directed by Tommy Wirkola, who did Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters (a movie I really enjoyed for almost no reason), it is tongue-in-cheek and definitely funny while somehow also managing to have some genuine Christmas touching moments and magic. The Lightstones are all terrible people, but the criminals are even worse and the things that are done to them, both by Trudy and Santa are hilariously over the top. 

The cast is fine in their roles, but really, this movie centers around David Harbour and thank goodness it does. I am not sure who else could have pulled off a depressed and bewildered Santa who is also a former Viking warlord. Harbour does it with such glee that you cannot wait for him to eliminate the next bad guy.

Alex Hassell as Jason, Alexis Louder as Linda, and Leah Brady as Trudy are the few LIghtstones you root for, but even they have some questionable moments. Edi Patterson as Alva, Cam Gigandet as her husband, action movie star Morgan Steel, and Alexander Elliot as their influencer son, Bert are the absolute worst in truly hilarious ways.

John Leguizamo leads the crew of baddies which includes Brendan Fletcher as Krampus, Andre Eriksen as Gingerbread, Mitra Suri as Candy Cane, and Stephanie Sy as Sugarplum. I love all their code names.

The surprise for me was Beverly D’Angelo as the truly hateful Gertrude Lightstone. What a treat to see her playing something completely opposite of what she is generally known for this time of year.

Overall, the movie is fun and silly and very gory. I enjoyed the way it has some callbacks to classic Christmas-adjacent flicks like Die Hard and Home Alone. It especially points out that perhaps Home Alone is not great for kids to watch as all those booby traps could kill people – which of course, works perfectly here. I strongly recommend watching this in as full a theater as possible – the audience reacting to each of the various over-the-top kills together made it even more entertaining!

7 out of 10

Movie Review: Black Panther Wakanda Forever (PG13 – 161 minutes)

Be sure to listen to the Wakanda Forever LAMBCast where I joined fellow LAMB members to discuss the movie! https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/lambcast/episodes/2022-11-14T14_48_39-08_00 

It has been four years since the astounding release of Black Panther and in that time, we have finished up an entire MCU multi-phase movie collection, collectively endured a global pandemic, and lost Chadwick Boseman.  With all that in place, Wakanda Forever had a nearly impossible task of just existing, much less being an entertaining superhero movie. 

There were many who felt that the character of T’Challa was too important to lose and even with Boseman’s passing, should have been recast so that he could continue to exist in the movies. I understood that point, but those who made the movie had an intense familial bond and it would have been impossible for them to continue their work with a new person in that role.  What Ryan Coogler and team have managed to do is create a beautiful tribute that honors Boseman, and T’Challa, incorporates that loss into the story, but does not make it the entire story.  Again – a nearly impossible task.

The story picks up after the events of Endgame and abruptly begins with Shuri praying to Bast for assistance in saving her brother. She’s the smartest person in the smartest country on the planet but is unable to save him. Heartbreaking for her, and for the audience. The Marvel credits kick in featuring exclusively Chadwick content (get the tissues ready early on this one) and then the movie time jumps to a year later as Queen Ramonda has been reinstated and Wakanda is dealing with the repercussions of T’Challa’s decision to partially open the country and its resources to the world. Now everyone knows about vibranium, and while T’Challa vowed to open outreach centers and scientific connections, everyone else really just wants vibranium. As Ramonda dresses down the UN for their demands, we see a strike team attempting to steal vibranium weapons from an outreach center in Mali – a French strike team (oh, how I love the super strong anti-colonialism not-so-subtle messaging in this movie).  The Dora Milaje deposit the team in front of the French representative in the UN and Ramonda reminds everyone that while the Black Panther may be gone, Wakanda is not weak or unable to defend itself.

Meanwhile, an American research team seems to have found some vibranium under the ocean, but is mysteriously attacked while attempting to drill it.  Shuri has been working in her lab on various defense tools and Ramonda wants her to come process her grief. While out, they encounter a man who emerges from the water, introduces himself as Namor – and tells them Wakanda’s decision to go public about vibranium has put his underwater people at risk. He then demands they bring him the American scientist who created the vibranium-detecting machine so he can kill them.  From that point on, Wakanda has to decide if they agree with and side with Namor and his kingdom Talocan, or if they are on opposing sides of this issue.

There are some incredible fight sequences, amazing music, flawless costumes and set design. The movie is a visual feast and stunningly sumptuous. It is about 30 or 40 minutes too long in my opinion, but that’s a minor complaint. Coogler’s work to repurpose Namor’s comic backstory (the more traditional ancient Greek Atlantis vibes) to a MesoAmerican based Talocan culture is not only wonderful for representations’ sake, but beautiful to see and fits the story perfectly, especially when paired with Wakanda: Two cultures that know the danger of colonialism and the generational pain it can cause to people. The returning cast is spectacular and the new cast is fantastic.

Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, and Florence Kasumba all return to their Wakandan roles. Even with a cast this big, each get some amazing moments to shine. Lupita’s war-dog spy Nakia has to go on a rescue mission, Danai’s Okoye has to chase down the scientist, Winston’s M’Baku has to provide counsel, and Florence’s Ayo gets to step a little more to the forefront – fitting, since she was the first Dora Milaje we ever saw, all the way back in Captain America Civil War. 

Angela Basset crushes every single scene she is in as Queen Ramonda. Lots of people are mentioning she should be nominated for all the awards for this, and whether or not that happens, she is a cyclone of power at the center of this piece that makes everyone around her better.

Spoiler alert from here down – I tried to keep it spoiler free, but I have to dip in a little.

Letitia Wright had a nearly impossible task in this movie. The question of who would be the new Black Panther was not really a question in my mind because Shuri had already been the Black Panther in the comics. Wright had a lot of off-screen nonsense happening, but she really put the work in on screen. She centers this movie and you feel every moment of her grief and anger.  I love how Grief has been the big bad of the most recent MCU phase because it is so relatable.  And when grief gets layered with guilt, the rage and demand for vengeance or (as she puts it in the movie) retribution that results is terrifying. She was excellent across the board here.

Michaela Coel enters as Aneka, a Dora who has been Ayo’s partner in the comics and in this movie as well. She was great in what she was given and I am not sure it needed to be more or less, but it did feel forced here and there. Dominque Thorne debuts as RiRi – who will have her own Disney Plus show shortly. She is fun and engaging and the show should be entertaining.

Alex Livinalli as Attuma and Mabel Cadena as Namora were wonderful and powerful and I really hope we get a Sub-Mariner stand alone where they really get to shine. Livinalli has some fantastic fight sequences with Danai Guirira and Cadena gets to question Namor on several of his decisions – which could lead to the plot of the stand-alone.

Which brings us to Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor. Marvel once again proves they hire the right people for the job. The Mexican actor had already been an anti-racism activist for years who understood the importance of representation this movie offered. He joins the ranks of Marvel ‘villains’ or anti-heroes who have points you agree with, even if their methods are a little questionable. In this movie in particular, he is just looking out for his people, even if he has to burn the entire surface world to accomplish that. Huerta gives Namor a gentle and seductive believability that is layered with a truly dangerous brutality. And my goodness, how they managed to make those little wings on his ankles actually useful and cool-looking is beyond me. 

Overall, yes, I thought it was too long, and there were a couple of questionable plot moments. I did see it twice opening weekend and I am really glad I did. The first time I had the weight of my expectations on it, and the second time I was able to just let go and watch it. I love it more and more each time I see it. It’s a beautiful tribute to Chadwick Boseman and I think it is the perfect way to continue the character.

9 out of 10, cannot wait for more!