The end of 2020 brought “Fatman,” an interesting ‘Christmas’ (more likely an anti-Christmas) movie. Or, we could say, a film with a different take on holidays; maybe the one, I could blatantly affirm, 2020 deserves. Christmas 2020 was far from what we are used to, so this Santa movie holds the same idea.
Santa…and a Deranged Hitman
“Fatman” delivers the story of a deranged and psychotic hitman, hired by a troubled and spoilt rich kid (both characters are immoral, and with their own issues on Christmas and Santa) to kill Santa. That simple. From a hard-to-grasp but wacky idea we enter a neo-Western genre film sparkled with snow.
Admittedly, a pleasant surprise is Mel Gibson himself in the role of the bearded fellow. He is stranded in a town, forgotten by everyone, trying to make ends meet with his lovely wife and fellow elves in order to preserve Christmas and give presents to all the good kids.
You must think directly what is this all about; but as I indicated at the beginning of the text, it truly is a different take on Santa. The whole magical part is still there, but Santa has to cope with the bad economy, less consumption, and more bad children. Hopefully, there’s always the State who can help.
Santa in a down economy. (Photo: Panasper Films).
Not a Christmas Classic, but the Messages Remain
“Fatman” isn’t a movie gem or even wants to be one, but by the end we’re warmed and reminded of the importance of holidays, from the perspective of morality and humanity. Moreover, the film’s criticism is oriented towards the (economical) ‘system,’ which exploits holidays and at the same time manages them — and in doing so is actually robbing the true spirit from the whole concept of Christmas.
Nonetheless, the most important message is given: you just can’t kill Christmas, and good always prevails.
“Fatman” is currently available to stream or rent from most streaming platforms.
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