On Christmas Eve, a man witnesses the death of his young son when the boy gets caught in crossfire between warring gangs. Recovering from a wound that cost him his voice, he soon embarks on a bloody and grueling quest to punish those responsible.
Director: John Woo
Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres, Catalina Sandino Moreno
Release Date: December 1, 2023
Genre: Action
Rated R for strong bloody violence, drug use and some language.
Runtime: 1h 44m
John Woo's return to American cinema, Silent Night, is a ridiculously scripted B movie that's more fun than it should be thanks to his signature style of action and Joel Kinnaman's engaging central performance. The dialogue free gimmick is an interesting approach and it does manage to give the film a certain kind of rhythm that works in the film's favor. Woo is surprisingly restrained especially during the film's opening act which sets up Joel Kinnaman's character and his mental state. It would have been easy to jump right into the action from the get go but Woo does an admirable job of setting up the emotional stakes with these opening sequences. That's not to say the story is deeply layered or original because its not. It stretches credibility on multiple occasions especially since it expects the audience to believe the main character can become an expert in driving, shooting, fighting and surveillance in a span of six months in order to battle hood gangsters straight from central casting. The sole reason this works at all is due to an impressive and incredibly committed performance from Joel Kinnaman. His performance drives the film as he proves he's more than up to the challenge of working sans dialogue. Kinnaman is able to transmit a massive amount of internal emotions through his facial expressions. It makes for a fascinating turn as he lets us into the character's tortured psyche which is driven solely by loss and vengeance, so much so that you could make the case that this is the best Punisher movie sans the branding. All and all, Silent Night works better than it should thanks to Woo's energetic action and Kinnaman's engaging performance that makes it far more watchable that the script deserves.
C+
