It’s been a long time between drinks, but Hong Kong action legend, the Living God of Slo-Mo, the Dove King himself, John Woo, is back in the directing saddle. All other information is irrelevant, but we’ve got a word count to hit.
When is Silent Night being released in New Zealand?
Silent Night hits New Zealand cinemas on November 30th.
Silent Night (2023)
What is Silent Night about?
It’s about bloody time we had a new John Woo movie, that’s what.
But in detail: after his young son is caught in the crossfire between two warring gangs on Christmas, an ordinary man transforms himself into an absolute murder machine and goes looking for payback, carving his way through the criminal underworld like a Roto-Rooter through a blocked drain. That’s your lot. But the wrinkle is the entire film is dialogue-free, because unspeakble cinematic violence really is the international language.
The cast of Silent Night
Joel Kinnaman is our bereaved avenger, with Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres, and Catalina Sandino Moreno also in the mix. And probably some doves.
Silent Night trailer
Why we’re excited about Silent Night
Because John Woo is one of the finest action directors to ever detonate a squib, that’s why. Sure, his American work was a bit patchy, but back in the day when the world was young and Hong Kong action cinema started flowing westward (so the mid-90s or thereabouts), discovering John Woo was like experiencing a biblical revelation. A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard Boiled—all absolute bangers. His operatic style, gleefully bloody bullet ballets, and unabashed sentimentality made the entire American action industry look like it was asleep at the wheel.
When a studio exec once grudgingly admitted that Woo could certainly direct an action scene, one Quentin Tarantino fired back, “Yeah, and Michelangelo can certainly paint a ceiling!” If it’s good enough for QT, it’s good enough for us.
