Silent Night

Silent Night sees legendary Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo’s return to American action films after a twenty year hiatus. The film follows a man named Godlock (Joel Kinnaman) who seeks revenge on a gang leader responsible for his child’s death on Christmas Eve. Woo’s comeback also features a unique gimmick: not a single character utters a word the entire film. Unfortunately, this long-awaited release leaves much to be desired in its premise, style, and utilization of the Christmas setting.

Action films are a genre I rarely connect to, as I don’t often find myself fully immersed in an action film’s story. There’s only so much enjoyment I get out of nonstop action scenes, and most works in the genre seem to put developing characters and cultivating emotion second to choreographing such sequences. However, John Woo is one of the few filmmakers whose work defies this, as he films and blocks action in such an artistic, enthralling nature that the need for a narrative becomes obsolete. His Hong Kong films like The Killer and Hard Boiled generate so much excitement purely from the quality of the craft. The stylistic integrity of Woo’s work bleeds into many modern action films, most notably the John Wick series. With the Wick films seemingly bringing new life back to the action genre, it was exciting to see Woo step back into the arena.

Alas, Silent Night is a disappointing effort in Woo’s catalog that is far more in line with his B-level American films than his best efforts from yesteryear. It blends in perfectly with the schlocky subset of modern action flicks, with little to no effort given to humanizing the character’s tragic circumstances and the action itself not being strong enough to make up for that. Aside from the bare minimum of showing the character losing his child, the film doesn’t bother expanding on why we should care. This would be fine if it was clearly not a priority, but Woo seems to really want us to empathize with him. Yet these attempts at empathy just fall flat; the character isn’t cool enough to be enjoyable, pathetic enough to be endearing, or likable enough to root for. What makes this even more disappointing is the fact that the build up leading to the revenge is actually fairly enjoyable! It initially seems like we’re slowly watching this character slip into irredeemability, and our lead has the potential to be interesting! However, once we get into the action, it’s clear that we are supposed to root for him and empathize with him, and this just simply isn’t earned.

The action scenes themselves are quite well-choreographed and enjoyable. While they fail to capture the energy of Woo’s best work, they still manage to be more entertaining than your average action film released today. There are other stylistic elements that keep the film engaging when the script fails to deliver. Some classic Woo trademarks, such as creative scene transitions, and unassuming long takes, keep the film slightly above its lackluster script. These stylistic elements, as well as the balancing act of the gimmick, prevent the runtime from feeling like a slog.

Speaking of which, the “silent” in Silent Night alludes to the fact that there is (almost) zero dialogue in the entire film. This gimmick is fun on paper, and there are a lot of clever story devices used to keep it from breaking, but it is a major culprit in the issues with developing any kind of connection with the protagonist. Kinnaman tries, but unfortunately he isn’t entertaining enough of an actor to make up for the lack of dialogue. This gimmick could have worked if the film was nonstop action, but there is a surprising lack of it where we are forced to develop these flat characters without anything to really bring us into them, and therefore bring us into the film. There are also several scenes where dialogue is heard over the radio, which none of it feels important and ends up feeling like a cheat of the gimmick the film is balancing. It does unfortunately feel like a gimmick by the end of the film, without any real thematic purpose or payoff.

The Christmas setting is also unfortunately underutilized for a film titled “Silent Night”. The few shots of Christmas lights and the fact that the antagonist randomly wears a Santa costume feel more tacked on than seasonally appropriate. While there have been many Christmas action films before, this film falls far from the star it was shooting for and settles for being another movie in a pile beneath the tree. Unfortunately, it does the same in Woo’s filmography, as this clever concept will be forgotten shortly, if it hasn’t been already.

4/10