Many have questioned whether action pictures with Christmas settings, especially Die Hard, are actually holiday movies, but perhaps this debate can be settled with the following features that prove action and Christmas can coexist in a film.
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Reindeer Games
John Frankenheimer (best known for thrillers like The Manchurian Candidate and Ronin) directed the action movie Reindeer Games, his last theatrical feature. It stars Ben Affleck as Rudy Duncan, a man who is days away from prison release, along with his cellmate, Nick Cassidy. However, after Nick is suddenly killed during a prison fight, Rudy pretends to be Nick when meeting up with Nick’s pen pal, Ashley Mercer (Charlize Theron) after his release from jail. Rudy (as Nick) establishes a quick and romantic bond with Ashley until her brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise) and his gang break into their hotel room demanding information in order to rob a casino Nick used to work in.
Rudy admits his true identity to Ashley and her brother (along with Nick’s death), but Gabriel and his aggressive crew still expect Rudy to provide them with a map of the casino, so the crooks can plan out their heist. While the film wasn’t well-received compared to Frankenheimer’s best work, the cast of twisted characters are entertaining and there are some cool action set pieces (including gunplay and fights in the snow, and the crooks wearing Santa suits during the casino heist). Affleck and Theron have good chemistry, Sinise always plays an effectively menacing villain (reminiscent of his roles in Ransom and Snake Eyes), and Dennis Farina has a brief but funny role as the casino manager with a “PowWow” safe and automatic weapons.
The Long Kiss Goodnight
Director Renny Harlin (best known for violent hardcore features like Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger) directed his former wife Geena Davis in the action thriller, The Long Kiss Goodnight, which involves a schoolteacher named Samantha Caine, who lives with her boyfriend and daughter in Pennsylvania. Samantha is an amnesiac who can’t remember her actual name and what happened to her years ago when she was found on a beach in Jersey. However, she learns that her real identity is Charlene “Charly” Elizabeth Baltimore, an elite CIA assassin who is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, is accurate with any firearm, can quickly assemble sniper rifles, and is quick with a knife (which she realizes when rapidly cutting food at home).
This film came before the Jason Bourne film series (which is also about an amnesiac who learns about his past history as an assassin). Geena is perfect as a female action hero who can be stylish and funny, especially with her hilarious co-star Samuel L. Jackson as private investigator Mitch Henessey, who helps Charly discover her true identity. Charly also goes through some torturous moments (like an enemy submerging her in chilly water) and faces off against another tough assassin with corrupt intentions. Unlike the PG-13 action in the Bourne films, Harlin constructs his film with some intense R-rated shootouts in the ice-cold snowy weather, along with epic explosions and bloody and bruised-up fist fights.
Shazam!
DC fans may be eagerly awaiting the release of Shazam: Fury of the Gods, but the movie that set Billy Batson on his superhero journey is a surprisingly Christmas-y watch. Set during the yuletide season, Shazam! sees Billy being granted the powers that turn him into a superhero (played by Zachary Levi) and facing off against Doctor Sivana (Mark Strong). At the same time, Billy is getting used to his new life in a foster family (with siblings who will be joining in on the superheroics in the upcoming sequel).
Unlike other action movies set during Christmas, Shazam! actually imbues its story with the spirit of the season, along with using the holiday to provide some memorable setpieces. There’s a significant running theme about family and being grateful, as well as some solid humor that make Shazam! a perfect watch during Christmastime.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Die Hard 2: Die Harder, like its predecessor, also takes place during Christmas, with John McClane taking on terrorists who seize control of a very busy airport in Virginia. The stress of the holidays is evident throughout the film, such as crowds of people scrambling in the airport to catch their flights, pick up luggage, and struggle to make phone calls from the booths. McClane also has plenty of confrontations with the villains in cold snowy weather, including a snowmobile chase with slam-bang shootouts, taking down a henchman with an ice pick, and fighting bad guys on the wing of a plane. Both Die Hard films also display McClane’s conflicted but loving relationship with his wife Holly, along with McClane’s camaraderie with others (including Powell), establishing the detective as a strong and sentimental human being.
Lethal Weapon
While the first two Die Hard films nearly take the prize for the best Christmas action movies, Richard Donner’s Lethal Weapon came first and is one of the greatest buddy cop films ever made. The dynamic partnership between LAPD Sergeants Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is electric because of their hilarious banter and their growth in becoming comrades and friends. Unlike the snowy weather in other action flicks during Christmas, the city of Los Angeles in this movie is sunny, mild, and, at times, rainy. Murtaugh’s wife and children bring holiday cheer with a Christmas tree and lights to their elegant home.
Riggs is also seen watching holiday cartoons of Bugs Bunny when he’s depressed over the death of his late wife, while the villains (drug smugglers including a menacing Gary Busey as Mr. Joshua) have their nightclub with bright lights, and the leader of the smugglers saying “merry Christmas” with a stern smile towards a dealer in an early scene. Riggs and Murtaugh have some intense firefights, along with a brutal martial arts fight between Riggs and Joshua in the rain. Lethal Weapon may seem like a formulaic cops and criminals film, but it’s a well-structured feature that balances action, drama, and comedy while depicting a convincing bond between two cops who are different but learn to understand and get along with each other.
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