David Harbour took a sharp detour from his role in Netflix’s Stranger Thingsto start rebuilding his movie career as a leading man. However, while projects like his Hellboy reboot (2019) didn’t work out, Harbour did score a nice cult-hit win with his ‘Santa Claus meets Die Hard‘ film, Violent Night(2022). The film earned a nice $76 million at the box office (on a modest $20 million budget), but, like Die Hard, it has managed to gain a foothold as an annual viewing for those who like a little more blood and bullets with their holiday-season celebrations.
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Now director Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters) is back to once again direct Harbour in Violent Night 2, with Pat Casey and Josh Miller also returning as screenwriters for the sequel. The biggest headline from the new Violent Night 2 trailer, however, is that actress Kristen Bell (The Good Place) is joining the franchise as a sword-and-hammer-wielding version of “Mrs. Claus.”
Violent Night 2Trailer Ups the Mayhem & The Laughs With Mrs. Claus’ Debut
According to the synopsis: “In 2022’s bare-knuckle holiday sensation, Violent Night, an embittered Santa, armed with lethal combat skills, took out a team of mercenaries to rescue a girl and her family. Now, not-so-jolly Saint Nick suits up again to take on a ruthless gangster (Jared Harris) terrorizing the merchants of the Silver Bell Mall.
But when Santa forgets the true meaning of Christmas, he finds himself in the heart of a lively mall community in desperate need of his help. Sapped of his magic, he’ll need another way to take on the goons threatening the mall, and time is running out. Santa has to rediscover his faith in goodness and call in some last-minute reinforcements from the one person no baddie wants to tangle with: Mrs. Claus (Kristen Bell).”
Violent Night(2022) turned out to have a surprising amount of depth, given the premise. Harbour’s Santa Claus was revealed to be a former Viking warrior named “Nicomund the Red,” who had traded his bloody existence for the noble duty of being Santa. Having to save a child and her family from a group of violent mercenaries put Santa back into savage mode, but it wasn’t enough to win the day. The terrorist “Scrooge” (John Leguizamo) managed to kill Santa, and it was only through the belief of the child and her family that he was revived. The film ended with the tease of Santa getting some power and weapon upgrades, the latter courtesy of his wife, who was teased without actually appearing in the film.
Kristen Bell in Violent Night 2 / Universal Pictures
In the sequel, Santa will once again be in his feelings about the state of modern Christmas (consumerism). This time, it’s a perfect storm of problems: Santa once again must defend innocents from some crooks who are this time threatening a shopping mall – the one place that is leaving Santa feeling disillusioned and disconnected from his magic. Enter Mrs. Claus to help save the day and help her husband regain his Christmas Mojo.
Violent Nighthad some fun action mayhem when the film really kicked into gear, and the sequel already looks like it will outdo the first film, visually. Harbour also looks to be leaning into the tongue-in-cheek aspect of the film even more than the first time, and with Bell doing the same, this should be a fun expansion of the franchise.
Violent Night 2has a release date of December 4th.
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