X
- 2020
- R
- Saban Films
- 1 h 40 m
- 2020
- R
- Saban Films
- 1 h 40 m
Summary 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 in his stocki...
Directed By: Eshom Nelms, Ian Nelms
- 2020
- R
- Saban Films
- 1 h 40 m
- 2020
- R
- Saban Films
- 1 h 40 m
Fatman
40
6.2
Where to Watch
Summary 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 in his stocki...
Directed By: Eshom Nelms, Ian Nelms
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
40
21% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
46% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
33% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
40
21% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
46% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
33% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
In the humor department, Fatman’s is a scattershot but often clever affair thanks to the film’s director brothers, Ian and Eshom Nelms. Their last feature, the eccentric desert noir “Small Town Crime,” worked positive human connections into a dark, violent framework, so that seems to be a theme dear to the Tulare County-raised siblings.
Fatman skids and slides and careens between genres and never finds solid footing in any one place, and ultimately winds up as an interesting failed experiment.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 73 User Ratings
6.2
47% Positive
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
41% Mixed
30 Ratings
30 Ratings
12% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 73 User Ratings
6.2
47% Positive
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
41% Mixed
30 Ratings
30 Ratings
12% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
This has no right being as good as it is. The trailer tells you exactly what you're going to get and I came out of watching that movie feeling so good. It's a ridiculous idea they took completely serious and it works!
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Excellent movie!!! Had no idea about the movie and I’m glad. I loved it!! Tells a great story about HOPE!!! Great story, acting, directing!! A must see!! It’s a new DIE HARD for Christmas movie!!
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This, in other words, is not your father’s grungy one-joke yuletide action comedy. It’s “The Santa Clause” meets “Magnum Claus,” and it’s pitched to the Gibson faithful with the idea that they’ll follow him anywhere (which they probably will).
There’s nothing wrong with subtle or contextual humor, of course, but here, frankly, it feels like a waste of a pretty great concept.
At times it’s a learn-your-lesson story. At times it’s a shoot-’em-up that does not skimp on the gore. Whatever trope it dips into, it does so without much originality.
If it weren’t so airless, it’d be easier to appreciate Fatman a character study of Santa’s midlife woes.
As funny as a mass shooting at the North Pole, and relying on just such a finale to sell it, Fatman is one of the epic miscalculations of any cinematic holiday season.
Absolutely everything I could want in a movie. Mel Gibson plays Chris Cringle in a gritty, dramatic, dark and wonderfully realistic version that fits today's America to a T. Would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a thrilling yet heartwarming action/christmas movie
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This is another mediocre movie by Mel Gibson. He did a great job, but the story was kind of weak. It might be a good movie for kids. After they watched it, they will behave very well.
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Not the worst somewhat "Christmas" themed Santa movie you'll ever see, certainly not the best. But a solid performance from the main actors on what was likely a low production budget outweighs the at times long-drawn and somewhat convoluted 97 Minutes with a pretty fulminant finale.
I do have to admit I like Mel Gibson, and I do separate the actor Mel Gibson from why so many seem to "hate" him and would like to disavow him and even his more than solid past works.
So, cancel culture aside, I do think he delivered a very solid performance as "Fatman", named "Chris Cringle" in this far-flung idea that, somehow, Santa does exist, has a government contract to fulfil his annual toy quota and to "keep up the spirit of Christmas" while he's working his Elfs in his Sweatshop.
Walton Goggins as an adquately "villainized" character is up and about to get a contract from a very, very naughty child prodigy who's putting a hit out on old Santa for all the wrong reasons.
To see how this plays out will be a somewhat boring affair likely for younger viewewers (let's call them Gen Z, shall we?) brought up on 5-20 second cut segments entertainment also thanks to TikTok and whatnot. This has long cuts. Loooong Cuts. Sprawling expositions. Unnecessary drawn-out segments are in there as well that add nothing to story but are interesting aspects of the characters portrayed.
These failings are offset by as many lovable as unlovable characters who are all given adquate background set in a pretty interesting story. The only downside is that for the one big bogeyman, "Mr. Slim" (played Walton Goggins), this fails to set up his motivation. While giving him ample room to establish again and again he's a primo A-Hole and AAA Antagonist, we only get a slight glimpse into what might have brought about his miserable choice of profession through a very short scene I found a) too late and b) highly clichéd.
Plus, prepare to wait a long time for the "Action" part here, as the movie draws out to full length before we get to that. But it'll be worth it I think if you're into slower-going drama/action and it definitely has some strong characters and ideas worked into it.
Nevertheless, give this a berth if you're expecting an Action Fest (it's not) or a 10/10 story - it's more a 5/10 cinematography, 7/10 Story and 1/10 Action!
Worth a look for a boring Sunday afternoon.
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Pointless. Absolutely pointless. An attempt at a Christmas western that feels completely bloated with it's postering as No Country for Old Men meets Polar Express. Seems like an SNL skit that someone with connections was some how able to fund as a full length feature. 2 points for the small amount of action in the end of a film that makes a 95 min run time seem way too long.
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I legitimately made this IMDB account so I could hopefully spare you the hour and a half I just wasted. This movie was a heaping pile of garbage and deserves 0 stars. The fact it had a 5.9 star rating before this review blows my mind clearly the people writing these reviews are uncultured and don't know a good movie from a cheesy, aggravating, lazily written plot full of holes that will leave you going wtf. Mel Gibson's prime has come and gone and this movie, atleast for me, was the nail in his coffin and I will not trust another movie where he plays the main role. This review unfortunately will not make me feel better about the time I have wasted but I hope you read this and do not have to feel that way. There are other crappy films out there that don't cost anything to watch. Watch LITERALLY anything else
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Production Company
Panasper Films,
Fortitude International,
Saban Films,
Carte Blanche,
Sprockefeller Pictures,
VVS Films,
Ingenious,
Mammoth Entertainment,
Sherborne Media,
Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC),
Canadian Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC),
Movie Trailer House,
RBL Studios,
Rough House Pictures,
Zed Filmworks
Release Date Nov 13, 2020
Duration 1 h 40 m
Rating R
Tagline You know the man. You know the legend. But you don't know the real story.
Website
https://klockworx-v.com/cw/
Awards
Film Fest 919
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
The CAFTCAD awards
• 1 Nomination
Leo Awards
• 1 Nomination
