The Man With the Bag poster just dropped, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is Santa Claus. Not a mall Santa. Not a reluctant dad in a red suit. The actual Santa. And he’s lost his bag. The Man With the Bag is a Christmas action-comedy, because of course it is.
The Man With the Bag poster shows Schwarzenegger in full Santa mode, looking like he could bench press a reindeer. Alan Ritchson is next to him, playing a petty criminal named Vance. The premise is simple. Santa’s bag gets stolen by a rogue elf with a grudge, played by Awkwafina. Christmas is at risk. Santa needs help. He enlists the one person who knows how criminals think. The Man With the Bag is basically Jingle All the Way meets Reacher, which is a sentence I never expected to write.
Adam Shankman directs. He did Hairspray and Rock of Ages. He knows how to do big, silly, musical-adjacent comedy. The Man With the Bag is his first Christmas movie. It’s also Schwarzenegger’s first Christmas movie since Jingle All the Way in 1996. That’s a thirty-year gap. He’s been waiting for the right script. This is apparently it.
The teaser trailer shows Schwarzenegger introducing himself to Vance on an ice rink. He runs through a list of names he’s known by, including the growl that Vance’s dogs make when they see him. It’s silly. It’s weird. It’s exactly what you want from a Schwarzenegger Christmas movie. The Man With the Bag isn’t trying to be prestigious. It’s trying to be fun.
The Man With the Bag cast is stacked. Besides Schwarzenegger, Ritchson, and Awkwafina, the film also features Alan Tudyk, Stephen Root, and Melissa Peterman. It’s a comedy that knows what it is. It’s a holiday movie that doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s the kind of thing you watch on Prime Video on December 2 when you’re full of turkey and need something dumb.
The Man With the Bag poster is doing its job. It’s bright. It’s colorful. It’s got Schwarzenegger looking like a Santa who could break you in half. That’s the pitch. That’s the whole movie. If you’re expecting Die Hard, you’re going to be disappointed. If you’re expecting Jingle All the Way with more punching, you’re in the right place.
The Man With the Bag streams on Prime Video on December 2. It’s going to be dumb. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be exactly what you need after a long year. Santa’s bag is gone. Santa needs a thief. That’s the movie.
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