Depending on who you talk to, actions speak louder than words. Just recently Sylvester Stallone spoke out about silent action heroes and how they’re the gold standard in his eyes. Well he’s gonna love director John Woo’s latest film Silent Night, which has “virtually no dialogue,” and a lot of asses for Joel Kinnaman’s silent protagonist to kick. Which, if you're talking to Die Hard's fellow holiday warrior John McClane, is probably the beginnings of a very delightful Christmas movie.
Lionsgate actually released this trailer into theaters last week, in front of screenings of Saw X. But now that it has been released to the internet, everyone can see it for themselves. Showing us the set up for Woo’s first Hollywood film since 2003’s Paycheck, an act of gang violence leaves a father (Joel Kinnaman) mourning his son. Swearing vengeance, and seeming to have lost his voice, he trains up, and prepares to take the fight to his foes on Christmas Eve.
This movie looks absolutely insane, full stop, no questions asked. There really is something about setting action to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” that hits differently, and that’s not just because Die Hard did it first 35 years ago. Though admittedly, the title is a bit of a problem.
As we’ve already seen the title Silent Night attached to a dark British comedy of the same name, as well as a pseudo remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night, people might get a bit confused when checking their local listings. That being said, in terms of concept and pure explosive content alone, Joel Kinnaman and John Woo’s collaboration seems to speak for itself in a very unique voice.
Action movies set around the holidays are certainly a pre-existing subgenre. Lest we forget the battle about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not still rages on every single year. That same argument might find itself cropping up with Silent Night, as it’s set right on Christmas Eve, and there’s even a bunch of holiday appropriate graphics to back the film’s position as a seasonal delight.
Honestly, we might just have to wait for the movie is out to settle things properly. However, Joel Kinnaman looks to be consistently wearing a Christmas sweater and a jingle bell necklace throughout his killing spree. So those of you in the pro-holiday movie camp have quite a bit of evidence already in hand.
A little under a year after Universal gave the world an action movie Santa through Violent Night, John Woo has returned to Hollywood to build the unconventional Christmas canon out a bit further. In the short, crazy glimpse we’ve gotten of this movie, it already looks like crowds are about to go wild for another off the rails tale of holiday vengeance.
The fact that it has “virtually no dialogue” only makes it crazier, which is probably a good thing for future audiences. At least when the applause and gasps start to break out, you won’t lose track of any potentially important dialogue. Silent Night will get loud in theaters, starting December 1st. However, if you’re looking for further information on the remainder of the 2023 movie schedule, you don’t need to look under the tree.
