It might be a challenge for some to separate the art from the artist, depending on what the person is accused of, but can brush it off their shoulders no problem. Let’s face it, aside from the amazing work Gibson has put out both in front and behind the camera, there’s almost this distaste when the name Mel Gibson is mentioned. Because of all this controversy, Gibson wasn’t getting any work for nearly a decade and it was up in the air on if he would ever make a comeback. Granted, he still got roles to pay the bills, whether you’re talking his role in The Expendables 3 or even his role in the Robert Rodriguez B movie Machete Kills Again, but none of these were roles that made the biggest impact on cinephiles. But then in 2016, he decided to not put himself in front of the camera and pull himself back and made, arguably, one of the most impactful war movies in Hacksaw Ridge, which was a modest success at the box office, but was critically praised by most and even earned some major attention at the 89th Academy Awards by getting nominations for Best Picture and even Best Director. What ever you want to think about Mel Gibson and his personal life, the man knows to make a movie with grand effect. Even as a performer, Gibson will always be one of the best. That said, Fatman is by no means Gibson’s best work but is insanely fun and a nice change of pace for what we expect from a Christmas movie. Fatman is a smart, action fueled and entertaining Christmas adventure with terrific performances from both Mel Gibson and Walton Goggins.
Fatman is not your average Christmas tale due to how unorthodox it’s narrative is. In Fatman, Chris Cringle (Mel Gibson), who is also known as Santa Claus, gets dragged in this alliance with the U.S. military, while trying to maintain his declining business. Things only get worse for Chris, when an assassin, Jonathan Miller (Walton Goggins) is hired by a pretentious 12 year old boy who sends Jonathan to kill Chris after getting a lump of coal on Christmas morning.
The premise of Fatman is absurd and ridiculous and the execution of it on screen could have failed miserably. But something about the story and the handling of it made it very believable and not as silly as some might think. Admittedly, Fatman is a silly movie. There are definitely much sillier and dopier movies out there, but Fatman definitely has a silly nature in it, that still features strong entertainment to it. This isn’t going to be one of those Christmas movies that isn’t going to be on the level of It’s A Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street, but for kind of changing the traditional aspects of an average Christmas movie. Santa, as a character is depicted as a rusty and almost dispirited individual and for the most part, Santa has always been depicted as joyful and glistening figure for kids to be obsessed with and Eshom Nelms & Ian Nelms (the directors) created a Santa that has good intentions but the personality and mannerisms are a shift from how Santa has been depicted in cinema thus far.
This may not be the Oscar caliber performance under Gibson’s belt, but he’s absolutely terrific in this movie. He’s crabby, tarnished and a bit discolored but there’s also this charismatic, humorous and intimidating layer to his character. When he’s not doing your typical Santa things, he’s out doing target practice or going down to the bar for a drink or two. It’s not the traditional side of Santa that we would anticipate, but Gibson finds a way to make it work and organic for the tone of this world that’s been laid out. Gibson is great but Walton Goggins is a freaking unbelievable. Walton Goggins is, probably, one of the Hollywood’s most underrated actors in the business. He’s great in films like The Hateful Eight, Tomb Raider or even his role from the show Justified. He’s proven to be a proficient supporting role, or even a much larger supporting role. Not only does he share a great on screen rival with Mel Gibson in this movie, Goggins chews up the screen with his calm and savage performance. The epic and final showdown between these two towards the end of the movie is intense, brutal and visceral.
It’s sad that this movie, and many others, never got a bigger release, due to how much of an impact COVD has had on the film industry. But that said, Fatman is fast paced, silly, twisted and change of direction of a conventional Christmas movie. The performances from Mel Gibson and Walton Goggins are great, the action is impressive and the absurdity is credible because it’s executed surprisingly well.
My grade for Fatman: B+
Zane's take at the Cinema's 