Santa Claus is not only alive and well and living among us, he’s also played by Mel Gibson and is an angry old man who has a failing business. That’s not all, either. He has also really upset a precocious rich young boy so much that he hires a hitman to take Santa out. That the hitman also has a grudge only adds to old Chris Cringle’s problems.
Gibson, still problematic but also still a magnetic performer, plays Cringle with all the world-weariness you might expect from someone who’s been doing their job for hundreds of years.
His real skill in this is being able to read everyone he sees upon first glance – their name, what they’ve been up to and what they like to do. The trouble is, by the time he’s checked everyone out, it seems most people have been naughty and therefore don’t get any presents.
That leaves his business (which is subsidised by the US government) in some trouble. No matter, he signs a deal to use his workshop to build parts for fighter jets. So – US airforce contracts, hitmen, angry rich kids – it all comes at once for Santa and ends in a bloody, violent showdown.
Is it good? Not especially. Is it enjoyable? Fairly. Should you watch it? Probably once.
Director: Eshan Nelms, Ian Nelms
Starring: Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins
Released: In cinemas now
