Absolute Merry F***ing Mayhem! It is fun to imagine that the studio pitch for Violent Night went something like this; “It’s Die Hard, with Santa Claus, stupid gory, wrapped in thinly veiled social commentary!”. Without missing a beat, an exec rises from their seat with a fistful of cash and smugly quips, “Fill my stocking buddy, we need a Christmas hero!”. Violent Night is a love letter to Christ...
It’s been over 10 years since Natasha Romanoff first appeared kicking Tony Stark’s butt in the boxing ring in Iron Man 2 (2010). They’ve had a decade to craft her story, so how does it stand up in the franchise? With little more than passing comments hinting at her dark past in previous Marvel flicks, BLACK WIDOW is one of the stand alone Avenger flicks I was most excited to see....