In recent years, Kurt Russell has played Santa Claus in the “Christmas Chronicles” films, and he’s what you think he’d be: Jolly and lovable, if gruff. Mel Gibson likewise takes up the beard in “Fatman,” (2020), and he’s also what you’d think from the “Lethal Weapon” veteran: A Santa who patches up his own wounds and gets into shootouts that splatter the snow and echo across the Alaskan tundra.
Good Santa
I’ve only described “Fatman’s” concept, not the plot, yet I’ve already gotten at the film’s core pleasure. Writer-director brothers Eshom and Ian Nelms make a dark-comedy actioner from the Santa mythology the way “Bad Santa” makes a crass comedy. It is a good concept, but it’s not 100 minutes’ worth of a good concept. The screenplay needed more laughs for our bellies to really jiggle.
The set-up is simple yet takes a long time. Gibson is honest-to-God Chris Cringle, acting curmudgeonly in North Peak, Alaska (I don’t know why they don’t say North Pole, since that’s a real town). Wife Ruth (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is on hand to remind Chris he’s a good guy at heart.
“Fatman” (2020)
Directors: Eshom Nelms, Ian Nelms
Writers: Ian Nelms, Eshom Nelms
Stars: Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Business is not doing well, because today’s youths tend to be a**h***s and therefore Santa delivers more coal than presents. This detail isn’t entirely thought out. Since Santa’s presents aren’t paid for by the recipient, but rather subsidized by U.S. government black books, the overall quality of today’s youths should be irrelevant.
Gibson vs. Goggins
The long set-up is for the sake of little jokes playing on the Santa mythology, and thankfully they do get better. Santa’s workshop has to take a government military contract. Showing that “Fatman” is not quite deeply cynical, the contract is for jet panels. We get amusing riffs like the lead elf explaining to a military captain why six meals of sugar per day is better than three squares of four food groups.
It’s surprising that “Fatman’s” screenplay doesn’t call for an assembly line of weapons in Santa’s workshop. It’s not like this is for a moment a kids’ film. It’s a violent action movie for adults. But the final showdown is personal, not overblown; less than a dozen guns are needed. Toward this end, Gibson – deepening and scratching his voice even more than usual — is half of “Fatman’s” casting win.
The other half is Walton Goggins, getting back to a scaly villain role after briefly doing the sweet-natured sitcom “The Unicorn,” which was actually good, and therefore canceled. As he travels by car from Minnesota to Alaska, his stops are for the sake of characterization.
For some bizarre reason purchasing a hamster in a pet store, he tells the store manager she reminds him of his mom: “She was bad at listening and didn’t know when to shut the f*** up.” A basic action-comedy line, but one Goggins delivers especially well.
Checking their lists
Speaking of bad boys, Goggins is hired by Billy (“Good Boys’ ” Chance Hurstfield, a kid who already looks like an adult). Billy is horrible in a less entertaining way than Goggins – a spoiled brat who rightly gets a lump of coal from Santa. When Billy receives a stuffed teddy bear from his dad in the mail, we know he’s gonna hate the present – it’s just a matter of whether he rips the bear in half, lights it on fire, or hurls it aside in rage.
I like the robust activity around the Cringle farmstead, which includes that massive underground factory that employs hundreds of elves. Some of Chris’s monologs are fun thanks to Gibson, as he lectures folks on the value of being a good person.
The grand finale is gripping, as the Nelmses take advantage of the stark white scenery and their two aces: Gibson and Goggins. For a film called “Fatman,” it’s too thin on plot and laughs. But the hero-versus-villain action list checks every box. As a lazy holiday-break afternoon actioner, “Fatman” will likely become a new staple.