apollyon48

So, I saw that RT gave this 0%. That's 1. Harsh and 2. Not warranted. This movie seemed "stuck" - between being a family film, and being a Broken Lizard production. However, Broken Lizard makes definitely R rated films (although their TV show, Tacoma FD, was definitely family friendly). In this, Steve Lemme played a rather good family man. Actually, this was surprising, for me to see this of him. The best part of the film, though, was tied between the cartoon intertitles, and the dog.

On the other side, some of the supporting characters were actually caricatures - as if cartoon characters come to life. This was distracting.

However, all in all, it wasn't the worst.

Twenty years later, this movie falls flat. A big part of that is that David Harbour played Santa (in Violent Night) with a lot more charisma. This looked like an indie film, but was missing the heart. A big problem with wrestlers in non wrestling movies is that they bring the ring presence. However, in "the real world", that doesn't translate. Santa powerbombing someone seems like a lot of work for little return. This is one and done for me.

The plot had moments, but, they weren't tied together - more like someone wrote a line, and said, Hey, that's good!, and that's where it ended. Special effects were not "special", so, they weren't engaging. If anything, this COULD be remade with 1. Better production values 2. Better script and 3. Better acting. Sometimes, trying isn't enough.

I laughed out loud - screamingly funny - right in the beginning, when Hayden Cale gets punched right in the face by the one demonstrator, and just stands there with a dazed look on her face for seemingly several moments. Just hilarious! (I know, sounds stupid, but, if you see it, you'll know what I mean.)