After Kurt Russels more family friendly Santa outing, we get mel Gibson in a more mature Santa outing. Way more mature, though I reckon there are still some lines that are not entirely crossed ... or at least they seem smoothed over. And that is one thing that I really sort of dreaded in this movie. Because while it seems like a mean Santa (Bad Santa, Kill Santa) outing, there are things or lines the movie does not cross. Pulling punches if you want to call it that.

Having said all that, the actors do an amazing job. Walton Goggins for example is quite restraint. While I wasn't sure if that was the right way to go (over the top would have also been an apt or even better choice),his soft and calm demeanor might play more into some other viewers expectations. The jokes are dry, the pace is slow .. there is nothing fancy about this outing and ... re-imagening of the myth that surrounds Santa Clause. Not more apparent than in the commercial aspect and contracts Santa is obeying by ... While I imagined this to be way more fun, it still can entertain, if you let it

I watched this movie on Christmas day as my wife likes to watch Christmas movies at that time. I wasn't too thrilled about that idea though, as I was expecting another cheesy holiday movie but Fatman is different. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It's definitely not a Christmas movie for kids that still believe in Santa Claus. There's a fair amount of violence and killings so not sure if kids want to see that if you want to keep them in the Christmas spirit. But for adults it's entertaining. Mel Gibson, once a decent actor, played in a lot of bad movies lately, at the point where I was wondering if he forgot how to act. But in Fatman he got it together again with a decent performance playing Santa Claus. Walton Goggins always seems play mean characters and he's good at it so no reason to change that. The whole cast did a good job making Fatman a different Christmas movie than we're used to. It changes from the eternal Home Alone franchise they push down our throat every year over and over again.

Chris Cringle a.k.a. Santa Claus, as played as screen icon Mel Gibson, is not really "fat" as the title would imply, but Mel makes the character a badass. However, Chris has incurred the wrath of a thoroughly repugnant devil-child. Billy Wenan (Chance Hurstfield) is a rich 12 year old child whose nasty actions have motivated Chris to gift the kid with a lump of coal. But the kid retaliates by calling upon his favorite hitman (the great character actor Walton Goggins),and hiring him to assassinate Chris!

"Fatman" was, for this viewer, an ingeniously twisted little tale that works hard to be edgy, and delivers some good dark comedy. Of course, it's far from being for all tastes, especially as we see that Billy is ready and willing to torture a schoolmate when she wins a science fair first prize that he feels should have been his. Fairly grim (but not overwhelmingly so),and very violent, the film also delivers some unexpected poignancy as Chris bemoans the state of the world today - and the bad attitudes of its children. Chris himself has fallen on such hard times that he enters into a temporary partnership with the U. S. military, where the elves will be making product other than toys.

Mel is in fine form, and he and the wonderful Marianne Jean-Baptiste make for a rather endearing Mr. And Mrs. Claus. Goggins is superb as the icy-cold, super-efficient hired killer who has his own reasons for wanting to bump off St. Nick. (One amusing character trait is that "Skinny Man"s' pet of choice is a hamster.) Young Hurstfield is very, very good at creating a child character so despicable that you hate him from the word go.

In general, whatever problems the movie has are made up for by the entertaining story that provides an off-the-beaten path experience for those viewers who may be tired of "feel good" fare.

Eight out of 10.