Silent Night (2023)

[DooK]

Despite the huge backlash, I'm still interested in watching it. I'm getting the bluray.

[L.J.]

I found the movie impressive, thought Woo did a good job with no dialogue. Something really appreciate is how he didn't use wore stunts and none of the characters did superhero stuff. The action felt very grounded unlike most action films today. Car chase felt believable as well. I highly recommend this, looking forward to watching it again.

[L.J.]

Originally Posted by DooK

Despite the huge backlash, I'm still interested in watching it. I'm getting the bluray.

It doesn't disappoint

[DooK]

I'm going to go against all naysayers, and say that the movie was very enjoyable. Good? Just by going by entertainment value, yes it was. It far exceeded my VERY low expectations and delivered a different yet appealing movie-watching experience.

The story is a straightforward, typical revenge story that has been done to death. Movies today have pretty much forsaken originality so anything made will always be familiar, which is fine by me. However, Woo's storytelling saves everything opting with mere facial expressions (a few cringe moments tbh but everything else was convincing and well done), and captivating storytelling to keep you at the edge of your seat. That itself to me was a successful attempt of blending the old-fashioned film-making with the modern one. Seeing how the majority of viewers responded, it's obvious that this kind of storytelling is not for everyone and something that is not going to be revived. But just for the attempt Woo and the team managed with, I think it's admirable and creative so nothing but respect. Joel Kinnaman makes a great lead actor, and fleshed his character out satisfyingly, and so did Harold Torres (main villain), Catalina Sandino Moreno (Kinnaman's wife), and even Kid Cudi (police detective).

Ok, it's time to talk about the action scenes. Was it good? I was surprised both in a good and "bad" way. The good thing about them is that it's nothing what Woo showed us last time, which was in Manhunt. Guns, car-chases, brawls. It's exactly what I wanted. Staged and shot very well, and with minimal CGI (which was alright). That being said, the action scenes look more in-line with the John Wick movies than with classic Woo-style action scenes. That presented somewhat of a slight disappointment for me as I wanted Woo to go back to his old ways of doing action scenes. At the same time, I'm glad he didn't as it probably would've resulted in reviving the cheesy and self-parodying style of Manhunt. So yes, I'm happy with the action scenes. I'm glad Woo did the movie. We may not get action movies like The Killer or Hard-Boiled ever again, which is the sad reality. But Woo has shown me that he can be different, and be imaginative when he wants to. So for the next action movie he makes, I'm sure he will succeed in doing something opposed to his classic works. So let's see what happens while he still has the spark to make movies.

Overall, I liked the movie. Is it better than his previous Hollywood movies? Nothing has surpassed Face/Off (overall movie) and Hard Target (the action scenes) so it pales in comparison. However, with everything else Woo has made ever since (including Mission: Impossible 2), I think it's easy to say that all those movies do make this movie look better in many ways. So I will say that it's his best movie to date, and a welcoming form of return for him as a director.

[StarWarsIsAwesome123]

I picked up the Blu-ray since it went on sale for $7.50 and finally watched this. What a shame that this didn't work, it was a pretty interesting idea, but the end result is little more than a collection of scenarios lifted from far better action movies. It's too difficult to root for the protagonist when he essentially abandons his wife who's also grieving because he's so laser focused on revenge and nothing else. This means there's a complete lack of investment or tension on the whole, and the attempt at having an emotional ending falls flat with what came before. At least the action scenes are serviceable (but not outstanding), and Joel Kinnaman tries his best with this material. 5/10

[peruguy]

Yesterday (April 15) I saw SILENT NIGHT that morning on Deals for $7.50 but before I could finish my purchase I had an internet failure. Later that afternoon it was back for $15.99 and I passed.
Surprisingly, the next day it was once again at $7.50. Very unusual, but I ordered it along with two other discs and the order went thru at $7.50. Now it is back up to $15.37. I count myself lucky for that anomaly, even if I might not care for the movie overmuch, tho I am pretty sure I will.
His movie WINDTALKERS was also poorly received by many critics but it is one of my favorites. The Heroic Bloodshed vibe is strong in that one for sure. My directors cut Blu went bad years ago and I only have the theatrical cut DVD at present because I am hoping for a 4K of the DC later this year... maybe.

[eiknarf]

All that matters is if the movie was fun.
It was.


It’s the REVENGE ACTION MOVIE version of NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU, which is the SCI-FI MOVIE version of this.

Both have minimal to zero dialogue

[El Rey]

watched this over the weekend and it was ok, not the best, not the worst. Perfectly serviceable for its runtime.