Nicholas Cage is fun to watch in this film.
Ben Schwartz is good in this movie too, but I would have liked to see him find a more sinister note. It's in there somewhere.
I wonder when ultra-violence and hyper-bloodshed became comically acceptable or just acceptable and I wonder if it is not a good omen.
Ruben Östlund said "The industry is perverted when it comes to violence. Of course it’s an easy way to create a dramatic event. But my view is that human beings are copycats – we imitate what we see. If you’re reproducing pictures of men running around with guns, people will imitate that. Look at any high-school shooting. The images the killers take of themselves in the mirror. It’s so obvious to me that they’re copying a character.”
I'm not saying I think this movie is going to make people go full Dracula but it just came across my mind because there is a lot of blood in this flick. The violence is so casual. It also reminded me of that film 'Violent Night' where David Harbour plays a murderous Santa Claus. Wild, right? And it's supposed to be funny. Of course irreverance is funny, but shit, is that where we are? Is it so bad to revere and/or respect Santa Claus? Is it so bad to revere/respect something? Anything? Bah, I'm an old man. [27]
[Östlund also said "Apparently it’s the same with our depictions of romance. People who love romantic comedies – they’re the ones who get divorced the most. They move on to the next partner. They move on to the next romcom."]