Critics Are Loving Mel Gibson’s R-Rated Christmas Movie Fatman

Now that Halloween is in the rearview mirror, the focus has shifted from movies that are designed to scare you out of your seat to ones that bring on the warm and fuzzy feelings associated with the Christmas season. Indeed, as is the case every year, a barrage of new festive-themed films are set to arrive and try and establish themselves in the pantheon of established classics that have reigned for decades like It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Scrooged, Home Alone and the rest.

If you’re not the Christmas type, though, then Fatman could be the movie for you. The dark comedy stars Mel Gibson as cinema’s most grizzled Santa Claus, one that’s fallen on hard financial times and now has to deal with an assassin on his tail after a 12 year-old boy who received a lump of coal in his stocking hires Walton Goggins’ Skinny Man to bring him the head of Saint Nick.

As far as alternative holiday films go, that’s a doozy of a pitch, and with Fatman hitting select theaters next weekend, early reactions are starting to make their way online and they look to be pretty positive. FilmInk’s Jarrod Walker says it “isn’t as funny or edgy as it needs to be,” but the Two Peas On A Pod podcast was much more enthusiastic, singling Gibson and Goggins out for particular praise and saying:

Mel Gibson as Santa. Walton Goggins as hitman who wants to kill him. That’s it, that’s the review. Full of unexpected heart, Gibson returns to form & Goggins dialed to 11 the entire time. Nelms Bros on point [with] this one, See it! 8/10

Matthew Pejkovic from Matt’s Movie Reviews and CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell both gave it the thumbs up as well, marking Fatman out as an alternative Christmas movie for generations to come. Here’s what they shared:

“Are we talking about Fatman yet? We need to be talking about Fatman. Will you like FATMAN? Well, Walton Goggins plays an hitman hired by a kid to kill Santa, played by Mel Gibson. Does that do anything for you? Fatman. … Fatman will be an annual tradition in the O’Connell abode,” said Sean O’Connell.

“Sure to deliver good tidings for those looking for grit and gunfire to their Christmas viewing, with Mel Gibson and [Walton] Goggins especially good as Santa, and Santa hunter, respectfully,” said Pejkovic.

We’ll have our own review up next week, as well as an exclusive interview with directors Eshom and Ian Nelms, so be sure to check back to find out what We Got This Covered makes of Fatman as we get closer to its release.