Legendary action director John Woo makes a return to the world of cinema in his newest feature, standard revenge flick Silent Night. The trailer seemed to promise a tighter, slightly more grounded approach for a director known expressly for his excess. Being mostly dialogue-free, Silent Night definitely strips away the one-liners and most of the sense of fun; what remains is a well-acted movie with several excellent individual scenes, but a lack of personality. A feature that never manages to overcome its bleak atmosphere, Silent Night is still good enough thanks to a game performance from underrated Joel Kinnaman.
The breakneck film immediately thrusts us into the action, by way of a determined father pursuing two cars rippling with gunfire. Imagining any scenario where things end well for Godlock (Kinnaman, The Suicide Squad, Netflix’s Altered Carbon) feels pointless, considering a tattooed thug shoots him in the neck in the extended opening sequence. From here, Godlock spends a good chunk of the movie training to get super swole in order to execute his revenge. Only through flashback are we made privy to the events that preceded the high-stakes pursuit. Godlock and his wife, Saya (Catalina Sandino Moreno, A Most Violent Year, Magic Magic), were playing with their son on his brand-new bike when gang violence intruded; their poor child (Anthony Giulietti, At Midnight) was killed by a stray bullet.
Stylistically, Silent Night leans hard into Woo’s approach—yes, that means ultra zoom-ins, and overuse of slow motion. At times, this can be jarring indeed. While it remains painfully obvious what direction the narrative leans, the bursts of brutality keep the staleness from settling in. Godlock, hell bent on revenge for his son, vows to kill all of those responsible for the tragedy of that death, especially Playa (Harold Torres, Memory, The ABCs of Death). Minimal dialogue translates to minimal characterization.
Intense brawling a la John Wick delights, yet I could not help wishing for decidedly less CGI-blood for the action-heavy spectacle of it all. Kinnaman is terrific; at its best, Silent Night hones in on Godlock’s deep depression over his son. Rather than telling, we are immersed fully in whatever memory comes to the surface. Lending a surprising emotionality, these dreamlike sequences nearly justify Godlock’s relentless brutality. Silent Night needed even more of these fleeting memories, and a dash more grounded practicality to its violence. Godlock proves to be more than a set of glistening, sweaty abs, but that eye candy courtesy of Kinnaman is also undeniable.
Christmas atmosphere could be a bit stronger, especially being the seventh movie I have seen with “Silent Night” in the title. Please, stop naming films Silent Night. Minor issues aside, Silent Night remains good enough to recommend for action fanatics. Over-the-top violence and frenetic pacing are the recipe for cult classic cinema—no one understands this better than John Woo.
Unless the mayhem on Silent Night, coming exclusively to theaters on Friday, December 1st.
