Silent Night review
Silent Night has a clever premise that ultimately proves too limiting to make for a captivating revenge thriller.
Picture John Wick as a dialogue (and charisma) free film and you’ll have a decent idea what’s in store here.
A tragic Christmas morning robs Brian (Joel Kinnaman, The Suicide Squad) of both his life and his young son in a gang shootout. Wracked with grief, Brian is aimless and purposeless, gradually pushing away his loving wife, Saya (Catalina Sandino Moreno). Saya is grieving too and steadily has to collect herself before returning home from work and facing a morose Brian.
Eventually, Brian gets inspired to go after the gangs whose war ultimately claimed his son. Only problem is Brian has little clue how to become The Punisher. This leads to the next 35 minutes serving as a long-form montage with Brian slowly learning How to be a Vigilante 101.
Director John Woo (Mission: Impossible II) challenges himself and screenwriter Robert Archer Lynn to tell the story without a trace of dialogue from the main characters. Occasionally there’s some background conversations from a radio or TV, but that’s it. The cast has to convey everything solely through their physical gestures and expressions.
Kinnaman and Sandino Moreno have the more fleshed out roles and get better opportunities to act in a “silent” film. The biggest downside to the silent gimmick is Brian just comes off so selfish for emotionally abandoning Saya in her greatest time of need. In essence, the shooting separates Brian from all of his family.
There’s a point where the absence of dialogue becomes a hindrance to the story. Does Brian work? Is he literally just chilling at home while Saya works to keep the lights on and food on the table? What did Brian do that would encourage him that going the vigilante route is the best course of action?
Silent Night has some pivotal moments where simply inferring what’s playing out in a conversation isn’t enough. Just minimal bit of dialogue would have sufficed in some scenes. A police detective (Scott Mescudi, Trolls Band Together) takes a seemingly random interest in Brian and his case. This dynamic definitely needed more fleshing out.
The gang bad guys aren’t aided by playing A Quiet Place either. Sure, killing a kid is enough to justify getting brutally murdered but they’re just stock obstacles. The leader, Playa (Harold Torres, Memory) doesn’t need to be a charismatic, larger than life presences on screen, but he’s largely nondescript.
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Plot and script issues aside, Silent Night is most effective with the focus on the violence. Shocker, the John Woo film is at its best with double-fisting guns blazing and random birds flying. Kinnaman is game here with expressions that suggest Brian has these out of body moments wondering what the heck he’s doing.
Brian fights like a vigilante who got all his training from YouTube clips. This gives the action scenes a freer and more authentically chaotic flow. In this chaos is where Woo is in his element weaving some intricate and well-staged battles.
In a post-John Wick cinematic world, it’s harder to establish layered, hard-hitting jaw-dropping fight sequences. While not at the elite level of John Wick: Chapter 4, there’s some very solid fights at play.
Silent Night has potential and an admirable commitment to the gimmick, but ultimately it hurts more than helps. Woo delivers the action goods, but a more compelling story could have taken this to a level that even Keanu might have uttered “whoa.”
Rating: 6 out of 10
Photo Credit: Lionsgate
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