Silent Night (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – A grieving father enacts his long-awaited revenge against a ruthless gang on Christmas Eve.

My Take – Known for his audacious and stylistic film making, filmmaker John Woo is indeed a pioneering icon of both Hong Kong and Hollywood action film genre, having created the Gun-fu style of onscreen combat through his various works. Which includes features like A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989), Hard Boiled (1992), Hard Target (1993), Face/Off (1997) and Mission: Impossible 2 (2000).

Though his recent output has been focused on Chinese epics like Red Cliff (2008, 2009), The Crossing (2014) and The Crossing 2 (2015), his latest a Christmas time set revenge thriller marks his exciting return to Hollywood since the critically lambasted Paycheck (2003).

While the set-up is overly familiar, something similar in vein with the Death Wish film series or The Punisher (2004), the unique aspect of this film is the fact that there is no dialogue spoken in the film, bar the odd phrase over the radio, police or otherwise. Yet, director Woo’s films are known to revel in style and excess, so if anyone could take the overly familiar and basic premise and turn it into gold, it would be him.

Sadly, the construction of this film written by Robert Archer Lynn undermines this chief conceit by turning the monumental middle into one long montage training sequence. Sure, we are keen to know how an ordinary man gets to a point where he is able to take down a cartel. However, the whole process is so drawn out that it sucks the momentum of the film. And when the action finally picks up in the third act, we have unfortunately checked out of the narrative by then.

Nevertheless, the sincerity of Joel Kinnaman’s performance, coupled with the camera’s unyielding focus on him amid the bloodshed, results in just enough to get things to the finish line in an entertaining fashion, even though many viewers will likely be left wanting something a little more.

Simply told, there are better action flicks out there and better John Woo films that many probably haven’t seen and are worth watching.

The story follows Brian Godlock (Joel Kinnaman), a simple man who while living a happy life in Las Palomas, California with his wife Saya (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and young son Taylor Michael, finds it shattered by a random act of gang violence. As on a fateful Christmas Eve morning, Taylor ends up catching a stray bullet while playing in the front yard.

Instantly filled with rage, Brian chases after the assailants in his blood-soaked Christmas sweater, and ends up with a bullet in his neck courtesy of Playa (Harold Torres), the leader of one of the gangs. Though Brian survives, he is faced with a long recovery and the complete loss of his voice. And while Saya tries to be emotionally supportive, he decides retribution is the only way out of his stupor.

We watch Brian’s transformation as he goes through the motions of grief and his own physical trauma before slowly dedicating his entire being to avenging his son’s death. He prepares and trains with the help of online guides and YouTube videos, giving himself an amateur crash course on everything from martial arts to knives and guns to extreme driving.

But the problem is, these scenes of preparation take up practically the entire film, at least an hour and change of its 104 minutes, without a hint of a John Wick-style point of no return. In lieu of letting loose with the violent debauchery, the film trudges along through extended training montages that construct a muddled image of Brian, halfway between a heroic vigilante and a man self-destructively consumed by his task.

Plenty of information unfolds through texts, pen and paper, and even over the radio. During normal interactions, no other human being really attempts to speak, either. In a world where Brian ought to feel isolated, he feels like just another piece of the puzzle, and the film rarely gets its story across through framing, rhythm, or mayhem.

Even, the melodramatic elements of the film doesn’t any favors. By the time you’re watching the tenth slow-motion flashback of how much Brian and his wife Saya loved their kid, the family drama somewhat loses whatever effect it might have had. The script’s simplicity is both a strength and a weakness, and the result lands somewhere in the middle.

Thankfully, when the action comes it comes mean and hard-hitting with some insanely inspired visuals, proving that director John Woo has definitely still got it in that department. The pulse-pounding third act which consists of action scenes and car chases that have us on the edge of our seat, act as a nice payoff to the labored second act.

Performances wise, Joel Kinnaman is committed to the role. He does a really great job in his role as a father seeking revenge, and since the film revolves around him you can’t really look away. His facial expressions are critical to conveying the emotions and progression of the film which he has down pact. From surprise to anger to grief, his silent performance draws you in.

Catalina Sandino Moreno delivers yet another silent yet expressive performance, while Harold Torres is good at being bad. Unfortunately, Scott Mescudi (also known by his stage name Kid Cudi) is wasted. On the whole, ‘Silent Night’ is an adequate action thriller that will go down as a forgettable violent holiday throw down.