Silent Night

An ideal movie for a post-New Year’s Eve hangover. There is no dialogue, just John Woo’s typically spectacular visual storytelling like that seen in a Van Damme flick from the ’90s. With decent action scenes and Joel Kinnaman doing an acceptable job as an “action hero of the people”. In screenwriting terms, Silent Night is kind of a lazier Nobody, without the humor, but with a bit of kitsch, e.g. when a grieving father sees his dead son’s face in a Christmas ornament. And there were no white doves in the film, or did I just not notice them? (14/01/2024)

This won't be a Christmas classic. John Woo made a variation of Death Wish as a silent film and that's about the only thing the film stands out for. The long exposition where Dad recovers, learns how to kill on YouTube and works out in the basement isn't very substantial and portrays him as a bit (a lot) of a selfish asshole. The action is properly gory, but compared to the likes of John Wick, it's not second league, but third league. It's just not interesting enough anymore. Luckily there are older pieces like Hard Boiled or Killer that the uninitiated can use to fix their appetite. (21/12/2023)

 John Woo's best era of movies is behind him and Silent Night doesn't completely offend, but if you're a fan of A-list action flicks, this has no chance to succeed. Plus, the idea of a silent hero didn't work for me. I felt hardly any sympathy towards the protagonist, we don't find out his character and there are no wisecracks, so I see this as a minus. Moreover, nothing happens for the first fifty minutes. The protagonist loses his son and is badly injured, and for more than half the film he copes and practices before deciding to take revenge. The second half is pretty good, it's R-rated, with occasionally nice slow motion, visually it’s fine (the two intense fights are great), but the shootouts are bland as the opponents charge like dummies, and the final showdown is nothing special either. Joel Kinnaman with his weird expression didn't suit me at all for the first time. All in all, a watchable but forgettable action B-movie. 55% (24/12/2023)