At The Movies: Silent Night
A movie from Hong Kong-based director John Woo who has produced such movies as Broken Arrow, Face Off and Mission Impossible II to name just a few.
It’s Christmas Eve and the movie starts with a determined, blood-stained Brian Godlock (Joel Kinnaman) running through back streets seeking out feuding street gangs, speeding through the streets amidst a barrage of bullets. It does not end well, with Brian being shot in the neck!
He undergoes a prolonged life-saving operation, but he has lost his voice and has to learn to walk again. After several months he is eventually taken home by his wife, which is where we soon learn that he had been playing in the front yard with his little boy, when the feuding gangs speed past and his adorable son is killed by a stray bullet.
After wallowing in self-despair and grief, he eventually visits the detective in charge of investigating gang crimes. While waiting in his office he sees numerous mug-shots of gang members, including the one who shot him. He takes photos of them all then quietly leaves the detective’s office.
Detective Vassell (Kid Cudi) sees Brian just as the lift doors are closing and observes the determined expression on his face – a picture definitely paints a thousand words!
A transformation comes over Brian as he writes on his wall calendar for Christmas Eve: “Kill them all”! His obsession soon leads to his wife leaving him while in every waking hour he is preparing for the anniversary of his son’s death. He buys a Mustang and teaches himself to manoeuvre at high speed; he learns self defence from videos; he becomes a marksman; he stakes out the gangs and accumulates copious notes and photos.
When the big day arrives, all hell breaks loose as his carefully laid plans come to fruition. This is a typical Hollywood-style revenge movie with the predictable car chases and shoot-outs, so don’t expect any big surprises there. However, this movie is totally unique in one aspect – which I have never seen before, and I’m not going to tell you what it is! To find out, you will need to go and see it for yourself. If you are a fan of action movies, I don’t think you will be disappointed.
Movie Review by John Glennie
Showing in Cinemas now
Rating: MA 15+
Runtime: 105 minutes
