| Director | Tommy Wirkola |
|---|---|
| Genre | Christmas film, action comedy film, black comedy film, speculative fiction film |
| Runtime | 101 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $76.6 million |
A bitter and jaded Santa Claus has become so fed up with centuries of enabling mankind's materialism and greed that he intends to retire after finishing this year's Christmas deliveries. In Greenwich, Connecticut, Jason Lightstone and his estranged wife Linda take their 10-year-old daughter Gertrude ("Trudy") to his mother Gertrude's mansion for a Christmas gathering. Other family members there are Jason's sister Alva, her boyfriend Morgan Steel, and her 18-year-old son Bertrude ("Bert"). Jason and Linda overhear Trudy's Christmas wish for family unity via an old walkie-talkie Jason gave her, claiming it lets her talk to Santa. Meanwhile, Santa arrives at the estate. However, a group of mercenaries with holiday-themed codenames, led by "Mr. Scrooge", raid the house, kill the security detail as well as staff members, and take the family hostage.
The mercenary "Tinsel" finds the hiding Santa; Santa kills him, but his reindeer are frightened off the roof by gunfire during the fight. Stranded, Santa resolves to rescue Trudy and her family from Scrooge, who is after $300 million in cash hidden in a vault in the mansion. After killing "Frosty", Santa takes his radio and finds Trudy's channel, also discovering that Scrooge and his henchmen are on his naughty list. Trudy manages to run past the kidnappers and hides in the attic. Santa reassures her over the radio, revealing to her his ancient Viking past as "Nicomund the Red".
Santa is captured by "Gingerbread", "Candy Cane", and Scrooge, the latter revealing his hatred for Christmas as a result of childhood trauma. Santa manages to escape up the chimney, although his magic sack of gifts is burned. Morgan also escapes and runs into Gertrude's private extraction squad, led by Commander Thorp, who execute him, revealing their allegiance to Scrooge. Discovering the vault to be empty, Scrooge threatens to kill Linda. Jason admits he stole the money, hid it in an outdoor nativity scene, and planned to escape Gertrude's toxic influence with Linda and Trudy.
Retreating to a shed, Santa finds a sledgehammer and kills numerous extraction squad members. Trudy sets up booby traps in the attic, leading to Gingerbread's death. Santa saves Trudy and kills Candy Cane. Alva, Linda, and Bert overpower and kill "Krampus", while Scrooge and Thorp head into the woods with Gertrude and the money, with Santa in pursuit. Linda kills "Sugarplum" and "Jingle", and Trudy witnesses her parents reconcile.
Santa chases Scrooge down and crashes into an abandoned cabin. Scrooge finds the naughty list, and realizing it is indeed the real Santa, he decides to finally end Christmas by killing him. As they fight, Santa grabs Scrooge and magically flies up a chimney with him, tearing him apart. Thorp shoots Santa but is killed by Gertrude. Santa succumbs to his gunshot wounds. Trudy rallies her family to affirm their belief in Santa, reviving him. His faith in Christmas renewed, Santa receives his returning reindeer, a note from Mrs. Claus, a new gift sack, and the return of his long-lost Viking war hammer, Skullcrusher. He bids the Lightstones farewell and continues his gift deliveries.