Fatman isn’t especially memorable but I always enjoy seeing a gruff Mel Gibson and his portrayal of a grounded Santa Claus. The movie is saved thanks to an entertaining final sequence as well as Gibson and Walton Goggins.
Fatman
(2020)
Genre(s): Horror, Thriller, Comedy
Paramount | R – 100 min. – $22.98 | January 26, 2021
Date Published: 01/18/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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Paramount provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3½/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: To save his declining business, Chris Cringle (MEL GIBSON), also known as Santa Claus, is forced into a partnership with the U.S. military. Making matters worse, Chris gets locked into a deadly battle of wits against a highly skilled assassin (WALTON GOGGINS), hired by a precocious 12-year-old after receiving a lump of coal as a present from Santa.
Quick Hit Review: I’m not usually a fan of the dark comedy nor very dark Christmas films save for the likes of Bad Santa, but even with his precarious reputation, I was looking forward to Fatman with Mel Gibson playing a gruff and angry grounded in reality version of Santa Claus. Add in a revenge element by a snobby 12-year-old kid and being hunted down by a vengeful assassin, feeling betrayed by Santa as a child, as portrayed by the great Walton Goggins in his element as a smarmy villain. The film isn’t quite perfect, never really getting off the ground and at the mid-point, with some genuinely darkly funny moments, I began to feel it wasn’t reaching its potential but the finale was a whole lot of fun, and pretty bloody, as Santa and the assassin trade shots in a shootout at Santa’s farm.
Written and directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms, who made their debuts on Small Time Criminal, Fatman greatly excels thanks to seeing Mel Gibson playing a foul-mouthed Santa Claus going up against Walton Goggins who is right at home as the psychopathic antagonist. I’d say this is worthy of a rental, not sure of its staying power, however. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2½/5 |
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This release has an Audio Commentary with Actor Mel Gibson, Writers/Directors Eshom & Ian Nelms, Producer Michelle Lang and Director of Photography Johnny Derange; Deleted/Extended Scenes (9:12) with six scenes removed and includes an optional commentary with the directors; and last Storyboard to Film (9:59) on two key sequences with directors’ commentary. |
VIDEO – 4½/5 |
| Paramount releases Fatman onto Blu-ray presented here with a 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. There’s a pretty good range with the picture from warmer tones while inside versus the stark whites outside, particularly on Santa’s snowy farm. Detail does look sharp throughout and as with any newer movie, there wasn’t any apparent or obvious signs of artifacting, aliasing or other flaws. |
AUDIO – 4½/5 |
| The disc includes a balanced and effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track outputting clear dialogue through the center channel and some good depth for the more action/thriller-centric scenes, especially the shootout finale. |
OVERALL – 3½/5 |
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Fatman isn’t especially memorable but I always enjoy seeing a gruff Mel Gibson and his portrayal of a grounded Santa Claus. The movie is saved thanks to an entertaining final sequence as well as Gibson and Walton Goggins. The Blu-ray from Paramount offers up solid video and audio transfers and has that rare commentary track on a new release. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.