Christmas is traditionally a season of spreading joy and getting together with family, friends and loved ones. Not to mention watching movies from something funny to heartfelt and inspiring to get into the yuletide spirit. Holiday classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Home Alone and The Santa Clause may have been the usual must-watch list. But why just stop there? Action movies should be on the list too, particularly if you are up for something violent and propulsive. With Dwayne Johnson-starred Red One hitting theaters this month, here are seven essential action movies based around the festive season (in alphabetical order)…
Batman Returns (1992)
Christmas in Gotham is nothing but chaos and despair in Batman Returns, especially with the corruption runs rampant revolving around industrialist Max Schreck (Christopher Walken) and the introduction of two supervillains: the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Tim Burton’s gothic-heavy flair is on full display here, opting for a darker spin in his sequel that’s more in line with his trademark rather than going for the straightforward comic-book movie route.
The result is divisive, which explains why Batman Returns failed to surpass, let alone match the 1989 original’s huge success. But it remains a superior sequel that embraces the underlying themes of freaks and outcasts, evidently in the Penguin and Catwoman. Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne/Batman may play second fiddle here but his presence isn’t wasted here with Burton exploring the complicated love-hate relationship between Batman and Catwoman.
Die Hard (1988)
Nobody wants a Christmas office party ending up with a group of terrorists led by Alan Rickman’s charismatic gentleman-like Hans Gruber taking over the building in Die Hard. The Nakatomi Plaza, to be exact, and it also happens to be a very bad day for one John McClane. Who could have thought Bruce Willis of all people, the TV star of Moonlighting ends up as an unlikely action hero saving the day?
Well, casting someone like him was a gamble at the time but it worked, which in turn, ushering a new era of blue-collar action heroes in the late ‘80s. It was the era where musclebound, one-man armies like Schwarzenegger and Stallone dominated the action scene but Bruce Willis’ John McClane is a refreshing change of pace. He relies on his street smarts to get through the ordeal and not forget, his wisecracking remarks. The action is spectacular without being over the top and McClane knows well how to get into the Christmas spirit, albeit in a darkly humorous way of showing Hans the dead body of one of his men in a Santa hat and a gray sweater with written words “Now I Have a Machine Gun. Ho-Ho-Ho” in red.
Die Hard 2 (1990)
Bad things keep happening to John McClane in Die Hard 2 and it also takes place during Christmas. Except for this time, it’s in a bigger setting of Washington’s Dulles International Airport. Renny Harlin, who took over John McTiernan from the first movie, seems like an unlikely choice to spearhead the highly-anticipated expensive sequel. After all, his past movies were genre fares like A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, none of which scream “big-budget tentpoles”. And yet, he directed Die Hard 2 with tremendous flair and has an eye for palpable action and large-scale set pieces.
Bruce Willis is once again the star of the show here as he retains his quippy personality reprising his iconic role as John McClane. The bad guys are equally memorable here, notably William Sadler as the no-nonsense mercenary, Colonel William Stuart. And true to the sequel tradition, it’s bigger, and louder, though not necessarily better than the 1988 original. But it gets the job done with flying colors and it also helps the stakes are higher.
Enemy of the State (1998)
The conspiracy theory runs deep in Enemy of the State, a political thriller with the Big-Brother-is-watching angle featuring the inspired casting of Will Smith and Gene Hackman. Smith’s role as the charismatic labor lawyer is right in his wheelhouse and pairs well with screen legend Hackman, who plays the ex-NSA communications expert. Watching Smith’s character caught in a web of intrigue and ends up on the run, one of which involves him running in his robe in the traffic-heavy tunnel is staged with the kind of frenetic energy associated with Tony Scott’s direction at the time. Never mind the fact his supposedly everyman character somehow manages to escape death on several occasions. It’s the type of movie that requires your suspension of disbelief but at least Smith plays the role well enough to make you feel invested in his character’s predicament.
Interestingly, Hackman’s role somehow echoes his other surveillance-themed thriller nearly 25 years earlier in The Conversation, which was highly regarded as one of the best Francis Ford Coppola movies ever made. The mix of political and espionage undertones may evoke the tone and feel of a 1970s-style thriller but with Scott’s contemporary update to fit the modern era, evidently in his fanciful bag of visual tricks.
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Christmas is all about drugs, murders and trigger-happy shootings in Lethal Weapon. The first movie of this successful quadrilogy was one of the best buddy-cop movies ever made and it’s easy to see why. Pairing then-freshly minted star Mel Gibson, who plays a suicidal cop taking things personally with Danny Glover’s by-the-book veteran partner on the verge of retirement allows them to play off each other well. Their mismatched chemistry is what makes the movie work so well.
Richard Donner, who directed Shane Black’s genre know-how screenplay, effectively merges no-hold-barred action sequences (the night-time final third act comes to mind) and comedy, showcasing the director’s versatility venturing from horror (The Omen) to superhero (Superman) and kids-centric adventure (The Goonies) at the time. Lethal Weapon may have been his first foray into the action-movie territory but he sure knows how to put them together like a seasoned pro.
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
Renny Harlin, Shane Black and Christmas. What a combo it turns out to be in this clunky but thrilling action film starring Geena Davis as the seemingly ordinary schoolteacher, who is secretly a top CIA assassin. Except that she suffers from amnesia until her past eventually catches up with her. Shane Black’s screenplay, which reportedly cost a then-record $4 million (!), combines action and humor with a feminist edge.
Casting Geena Davis, who is no stranger to a physically demanding role, given her prior experience in the mega-flop Cutthroat Island which infamously sunk the once-dominating Carolco Pictures into the bottom of the ocean, is the right woman for the job. The Long Kiss Goodnight transforms her initial, long-haired schoolteacher with a meek personality into a bleached-blonde bob of a feisty assassin, who is skillful in weaponry. And here, Davis nails the role well and she’s backed by Samuel L. Jackson’s solid supporting turn as the private investigator Mitch Henessey. Harlin, who already proved his worth in Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, knows his stuff around in the action department, notably the climactic finale on the Niagara Falls International Bridge.
Violent Night (2022)
Santa Claus is coming to town and he’s here to teach the naughty men and a woman a lesson in Violent Night. It’s a title that sure fulfills its promise, where the snowy night is bathed in lots of blood and graphic violence. And we have Santa Claus here played by David Harbour with gleeful abandon. He’s far from your typical jolly ho-ho-ho Santa because he’s drunk and bitter when the movie first introduces his character.
Coming from David Leitch, who served as one of the producers, Violent Night pays tribute to Die Hard and at some point, Home Alone with Harbour’s Santa in a John McClane mold and Leah Brady’s Trudy setting up an elaborate booby trap. This version of Santa doesn’t hesitate to shoot, stab, and even bludgeon his enemies with a sledgehammer. Tommy Wirkola, the man behind the Dead Snow movies and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, has a field day combining brutal action set pieces and humor. The movie also benefits from John Leguizamo having a wickedly fun time playing the charismatic main antagonist Mr. Scrooge.
What are you favourite festive action movies? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong