Last year an interesting new Christmas movie came out, and although I watched it at the time, I didn’t have time to squeeze in a post about it before the big the day.
As it happens I watched it again last week so I thought I’d get a post in now before I have to wait yet another year.
Fatman (2020)
I was told about this film by one of my regular Screen Roomers on Facebook and as soon as I heard it had Mel Gibson in I was sold.
I love Mel Gibson. I know he’s had a few issues in the past (haven’t we all?) but he’s a good actor, a great director and his track record for making decent films is pretty damn good.
If you haven’t seen this movie, it’s an unorthodox festive action/thriller starring (as mentioned) Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon), Walton Goggins (Django Unchained), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Spy Game) and the young Chance Hurstfield (Good Boys) among others.
This is what it’s about according to IMDb:
A rowdy, unorthodox Santa Claus is fighting to save his declining business. Meanwhile, Billy, a neglected and precocious 12 year old, hires a hit man to kill Santa after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking.
Now I’ve talked a lot about the whole “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie” debate this week. You all know I don’t consider it to be one, although it is the best action film ever made in my opinion. If someone asked me if I thought this was a Christmas film I’d have to stare at them with a bemused look on my face and then blurt out “what do you think?! Of course it’s a Christmas movie! It’s about Santa Claus!”
Sure it’s a slightly unusual take on the idea but it has snow, it’s set at Christmas, it has Santa as it’s main protagonist, there are elves and even reindeer. There are also lots of guns and explosions. It’s a no-brainier.
Although the film itself may be neither the best action film nor the best Christmas film you’ll ever see, it’s certainly worth a watch.
Mel Gibson as you’d expect is good in the lead role as a grumpy, alcohol drinking, gun carrying, disillusioned with today’s youth version of the jolly fat guy in the red suit.
The movie’s main antagonist (other than the spoilt brat who puts the hit on Santa) is Walton Goggins, an actor who’s shown on more than one occasion that he’s excellent at playing a bad guy and he does exactly that in this but with an air of comedy.
The pace is slow for a lot of the film which might not be for some, but for me, I like that it attempts to tell a bigger story other than the one we’re aware of going in. Having said that, the climactic face-off at the end of film is worth the wait, if not over a little too quickly for me.
All in all I really enjoyed this movie and it makes for an interesting and different take on the whole Santa Claus idea.
If you fancy something a bit grittier than The Muppet Christmas Carol this week but still want to keep things festive, why not give Fatman a go?
Seen it? Let me know what you think.