Not to be confused with the 2012 slasher film “Silent Night” or the 2020 South London crime movie “Silent Night” or the 2021 black comedy “Silent Night,” John Woo’s “Silent Night” is a dialogue-free vigilante revenge thriller with echoes of “Taken” and “Peppermint” and of course “Death Wish.” For the 77-year-old Woo, who has influenced generations of directors with films such as “The Killer,” “Bullet in the Head” and “Face/Off,” this is his first American film since 2003’s “Paycheck,” and it is hardcore evidence Woo regains his signature style and his flair for over-the-top, sometimes poetically brutal action.
“Silent Night” kicks off with Joel Kinnaman’s Brian Godlock wearing a corny Rudolph “dad sweater” as he desperately races through the streets of Los Angeles as a red balloon drifts away in the skies, uh-oh.
