Le père Noël doit mourir

Loosely based on the all-time classic Christmas legend , here we have an offbeat Santa Claus competently performed by elderly Mel Gibson . This is an adult , engrossing and entertaining picture containing fun , violence and amusement enough . At the beginning of the film Chris Kringle (Mel Gibson) is listening to the radio, he hears about two kids throwing a bowling ball off an overpass onto the freeway, causing a major traffic accident. The rowdy, unorthodox Santa Claus living with his wife Ruth (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is taking on difficulties to save his declining business. Meanwhile, Billy (Chance Hurstfield) , a ruthless , evil 12 year old, hires a hit man to kill Santa after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking. You know the man !. You know the legend. But you don't know the real story. Tis the season to get even !. This holiday season, you don't want to be on his hit list !. You better watch out !.

This agreeable picture contains powerful and haunting images , entertainment and amusement . Beautiful scenery , colorful cinematography by cameraman Johnny Derango , atttractive musical score by Mondo Boys , spirited adventure and a breathtaking climax at an impressi duel lift this story . It is a genuine as well as imaginative tale written and directed with professionality , fairness and imagination , though some scenes are far-from-snappy . If you like Mel Gibson , you'll enjoy this light-weight thriller/comedy , in which he stars Santa joining forces with his toy manufacturers to vanquish an extremely cunning contract killer who who uses a high precision rifle to kill him. This is one of the many movies starring Santa Claus, most of them are characterized by the traditional Santa, the good bearded Oldman who delivers presents to children, such as: ¨Santa Claus: The Movie¨ (1985) and those played by Tim Allen as ¨The Santa Clause¨ (1994) , ¨The Santa Clause 2 : The Escape Clause¨ (2002) , ¨Santa Clause 3¨ (2006) , while others on one side negative dealing with an usually disguised Santa who commits evil deeds and murders, such as ¨Silent Night, Bloody Night¨ , ¨Silent Night, Bloody Night 2: Revival¨ , ¨Silent Night, Bloody Night 3¨ and ¨Dont Open Till Christmas¨ , "Violent night" , "Christmas Bloody Christmas", "Christmas Horror Story" . Interpretations are pretty well , Mel Gibson is nice as always , as the outlandish Santa Claus , enjoyable Marianne Jean-Baptiste as his wife Ruth , while Chance Hurstfield is terrific as the neglected and precocious little boy as well as Walter Goggins as the relentless and avenging killer for hire.

The motion picture was finely written/directed by Ian Nelms and Eshom Nelms and it was fairly successful at the box office but not too much .The Nelms Brothers always write and direct together and have made multiple award-winning short and feature films. In 2013, their film 'Lost on Purpose' won numerous festival awards including Best Film, Best Directors and Best Actress for Jane Kaczmarek. In 2015, they debuted 'Waffle Street,' which went on to win Woodstock Film Festival's Inaugural Carpe Diem Award for Best Film as well as Best Narrative Film at the Hollywood Film Festival. The latest feature film by the Nelms Bros., 'Small Town Crime,' stars John Hawkes, Anthony Anderson, Academy Award Winner Octavia Spencer. The Nelms Bros. Also produce several projects together and, most recently, Eshom and Ian executive produced the series "Everyone is Doing Great," created by their longtime collaborator James Lafferty. Additionally, the Nelms Brothers are attached to direct the thriller, 'Capture,' for Thunder Road. Rating : 6.5/10, the pic will appeal to Mel Gibson enthusiasts .

After Kurt Russels more family friendly Santa outing, we get mel Gibson in a more mature Santa outing. Way more mature, though I reckon there are still some lines that are not entirely crossed ... or at least they seem smoothed over. And that is one thing that I really sort of dreaded in this movie. Because while it seems like a mean Santa (Bad Santa, Kill Santa) outing, there are things or lines the movie does not cross. Pulling punches if you want to call it that.

Having said all that, the actors do an amazing job. Walton Goggins for example is quite restraint. While I wasn't sure if that was the right way to go (over the top would have also been an apt or even better choice), his soft and calm demeanor might play more into some other viewers expectations. The jokes are dry, the pace is slow .. there is nothing fancy about this outing and ... re-imagening of the myth that surrounds Santa Clause. Not more apparent than in the commercial aspect and contracts Santa is obeying by ... While I imagined this to be way more fun, it still can entertain, if you let it

I can't believe this movie exists. It's high production, actors are good. Many may say the story is stupid and too straight forwards...but this is a movie, that could've been made in the 80's. People who grew up with movies which don't take themself too serious like "Commando" for example really miss such movies. And i'am not talking about cheaply made C-movies. In the 80's there was an audience for this kind of movies and that's why they were highly quality produced. It's about the fun. And i had fun watching this movie. It's just this kind of flick you tell your friends about "Hey have you seen this crazy movie where Mel Gibson as Santa Clause saves christmas with guns?" And of course they answer with no. And then you tell them: "Well, buckle up, kiddo. You're in for a good time, get the whiskey!".

Nothing more to add. We need more films like that,

"Fatman" is one of those little independent films that entertains in a surprise like manner as it does have an interesting story with well known actors and it is joy. Set during the "Christmas" season a 12 year old boy receives nothing so he decides it's the big red suited man's fault and he hires a ruthless and crazy hitman(the fine wonderful Walton Goggins) to hunt Mr. Claus down and kill him. As a subplot and on the side as a wild card like story is Chris(in a fine turn from Mel Gibson) a real life Santa who makes a living meeting kids needs. Only Chris is down on his luck and broke, however when he takes up partnership with the U.S. military things change. This film becomes an action like thriller with the two central characters ending up crossing paths overall this picture is underrated give it a watch as the entertaining moments and fun dark action and laughs keep on giving!

Chris Cringle a.k.a. Santa Claus, as played by screen icon Mel Gibson, is not really "fat" as the title would imply, but Mel makes the character a badass. However, Chris has incurred the wrath of a thoroughly repugnant devil-child. Billy Wenan (Chance Hurstfield) is a rich 12 year old child whose nasty actions have motivated Chris to gift the kid with a lump of coal. But the kid retaliates by calling upon his favorite hitman (the great character actor Walton Goggins), and hiring him to assassinate Chris!

"Fatman" was, for this viewer, an ingeniously twisted little tale that works hard to be edgy, and delivers some good dark comedy. Of course, it's far from being for all tastes, especially as we see that Billy is ready and willing to torture a schoolmate when she wins a science fair first prize that he feels should have been his. Fairly grim (but not overwhelmingly so), and very violent, the film also delivers some unexpected poignancy as Chris bemoans the state of the world today - and the bad attitudes of its children. Chris himself has fallen on such hard times that he enters into a temporary partnership with the U. S. military, where the elves will be making product other than toys.

Mel is in fine form, and he and the wonderful Marianne Jean-Baptiste make for a rather endearing Mr. And Mrs. Claus. Goggins is superb as the icy-cold, super-efficient hired killer who has his own reasons for wanting to bump off St. Nick. (One amusing character trait is that "Skinny Man"s' pet of choice is a hamster.) Young Hurstfield is very, very good at creating a child character so despicable that you hate him from the word go.

In general, whatever problems the movie has are made up for by the entertaining story that provides an off-the-beaten path experience for those viewers who may be tired of "feel good" fare.

Eight out of 10.