Bad Santa isn't the worst movie I've ever seen, and I admit it could be highly enjoyable to people who don't find the following features so irritating, but for me, the movie combined four tropes that I have a hard time putting up with.
Villain Protagonist: Putting it nicely, Willie is a terrible human being who survives on thievery and luck. To put it bluntly, he's a whiny, self-loathing, alcoholic shit who things seem to go surprisingly well for. He steals a car, a house, and gets a hot girlfriend with a Santa fetish within half an hour.
Idiot Plot: This is a movie where it's easier to assume that it takes place on a planet identical to Earth but with different laws and social norms. Willie isn't a Bad Santa - he's the worst Santa in the world. The idea that he could hold onto the job for more than 5 minutes is laughable, even if his boss fears repercussions for firing his sidekick of the movie, a black dwarf. Willie wouldn't be fired - he'd be arrested.
Vulgar Humor: My problem isn't that most of the humor is lowbrow or that they swear a lot; it's that none of these things tie in to any actual form of humor. Just because the movie's named 'Bad Santa' doesn't mean you can make half of the scenes about what a horrible Santa this guy is, and then just reuse the punchline of 'Get it? It's funny because he's a bad Santa!' It gets really old, really fast.
And spoiler alert for the last one.
Karma Houdini: Without going into too much detail, the big robbery this year doesn't go as planned and Willie is shot as he tries to bring a little boy the present he wanted. If the movie had ended here, I actually would've liked it - there's something fitting about a horrible jackass being shot while he tries to finish the only decent thing he's ever done. But of course it isn't fatal, and Willie gets a happy ending because the police shouldn't have shot him, despite him being at a crime scene, fleeing them with no explanation, and running into a stranger's house, for all they know, to grab a hostage. He becomes a better person and pays no penalty for the multiple criminal acts he's committed throughout the whole movie, plentiful and severe though they are.
If you ever find yourself rooting for this 'Bad Santa', I fear for your mental stability.
Bad Santa: Bad Movie
Bad Santa isn't the worst movie I've ever seen, and I admit it could be highly enjoyable to people who don't find the following features so irritating, but for me, the movie combined four tropes that I have a hard time putting up with.
Villain Protagonist: Putting it nicely, Willie is a terrible human being who survives on thievery and luck. To put it bluntly, he's a whiny, self-loathing, alcoholic shit who things seem to go surprisingly well for. He steals a car, a house, and gets a hot girlfriend with a Santa fetish within half an hour.
Idiot Plot: This is a movie where it's easier to assume that it takes place on a planet identical to Earth but with different laws and social norms. Willie isn't a Bad Santa - he's the worst Santa in the world. The idea that he could hold onto the job for more than 5 minutes is laughable, even if his boss fears repercussions for firing his sidekick of the movie, a black dwarf. Willie wouldn't be fired - he'd be arrested.
Vulgar Humor: My problem isn't that most of the humor is lowbrow or that they swear a lot; it's that none of these things tie in to any actual form of humor. Just because the movie's named 'Bad Santa' doesn't mean you can make half of the scenes about what a horrible Santa this guy is, and then just reuse the punchline of 'Get it? It's funny because he's a bad Santa!' It gets really old, really fast.
And spoiler alert for the last one.
Karma Houdini: Without going into too much detail, the big robbery this year doesn't go as planned and Willie is shot as he tries to bring a little boy the present he wanted. If the movie had ended here, I actually would've liked it - there's something fitting about a horrible jackass being shot while he tries to finish the only decent thing he's ever done. But of course it isn't fatal, and Willie gets a happy ending because the police shouldn't have shot him, despite him being at a crime scene, fleeing them with no explanation, and running into a stranger's house, for all they know, to grab a hostage. He becomes a better person and pays no penalty for the multiple criminal acts he's committed throughout the whole movie, plentiful and severe though they are.
If you ever find yourself rooting for this 'Bad Santa', I fear for your mental stability.