The Man with the Bag (2026) Trailer Review – Schwarzenegger’s Santa and Ritchson’s Thief Look Like Christmas Chaos

Our Trailer Rating: ★★★★☆ 7.5/10

This is a trailer review. The Man with the Bag has not released yet, so there is no film to rate here — only the official trailer, which Amazon-MGM unveiled on 2 November 2026, exactly one month before the film’s Prime Video premiere. The full review will follow after release. What the trailer shows, though, is an idea so cheerfully absurd that it instantly earns attention: Arnold Schwarzenegger, at 79, playing Santa Claus — not as a cameo, not as a joke at his own expense, but as a full-blooded action hero — recruiting a thief, played by Alan Ritchson, to recover his stolen magic sack from a rogue elf with a grudge, played by Awkwafina. It is the kind of premise that either collapses under its own silliness or becomes a Christmas classic. On trailer evidence, it has a real chance at the second.

Quick Facts: The Man with the Bag at a Glance

What the Trailer Shows

The trailer opens on the film’s central crisis, played with a straight face that is itself the joke: Santa’s magic red bag — the sack that carries Christmas itself — has been stolen by a rogue elf with a grudge. Without it, Christmas cannot happen, and Santa, rather than calling the North Pole’s authorities, turns to the last person anyone would expect: Vance, a ne’er-do-well thief played by Alan Ritchson, who is convinced to take the job by his estranged daughter. The trailer’s pleasure comes from watching these two figures share a frame. Schwarzenegger’s Santa is warm, massive and entirely unbothered by the absurdity of his situation; Ritchson’s Vance is sceptical, physical and funny in the way Ritchson has made his own in recent years. Their partnership is the trailer’s engine, and the trailer knows it, returning to their odd-couple dynamic again and again.

Around them, the trailer builds a Christmas action world: snowy streets, festive lights, chases through holiday crowds, and Awkwafina’s rogue elf as the chaos agent pulling the strings. The action is staged with the bright, broad energy of a holiday blockbuster — big, colourful and deliberately unserious — while the emotional thread, the thief’s estranged daughter and the possibility of redemption, gives the comedy something to stand on. The trailer does not reveal how the bag is recovered, or what the elf’s grudge truly is, and this review will not guess: the trailer’s job is to promise chaos with heart, and on that job it succeeds.

Tone, Music and Action

Tone first, because tone is everything here. The Man with the Bag is pitched as an action-comedy with, in one report’s words, “all the heart a Christmas movie brings” — and the trailer holds that balance carefully. The jokes come from the premise’s absurdity rather than from mocking it: Santa is treated as a real hero, the thief as a real rogue, and the comedy comes from their collision, not from winking at the audience. Schwarzenegger’s casting is the masterstroke. This is only his second Christmas movie, and the trailer uses his age and his legend rather than apologising for them — the joke is not that Santa is old, but that Santa is still, unmistakably, Arnold.

The action, as cut in the trailer, is broad and physical: chases, fights and set pieces dressed in tinsel and snow. Ritchson, who has had three feature films out this year alone, brings the same grounded physicality that made him a streaming-era action star, and the trailer pairs it well against Schwarzenegger’s larger-than-life presence. The music leans festive without becoming saccharine, keeping the trailer’s energy high and its sentimentality in check. If the film keeps this balance for its full runtime, it will be a genuine holiday treat; if it tips too far toward either action or sentiment, the trailer’s promise will thin out.

The Cast: Why This Trio Works on Paper

Schwarzenegger as Santa is the kind of casting that sounds like a joke until you see it. The trailer shows why it works: he brings warmth without softness, authority without stiffness, and a lifetime of action-hero credibility to a role that needs all three. Audiences have watched him play soldiers, robots and governors; watching him play the most beloved figure in Christmas mythology feels, in the trailer at least, like a natural final form — the action hero as gift-giver, still saving the day, now for every child on Earth.

Ritchson is the trailer’s grounded centre. Vance is a thief with a past and a daughter he has disappointed, and Ritchson plays both the comedy and the regret without forcing either. His recent run of action roles has made him one of the most reliable presences in the genre, and the trailer suggests the film is using him wisely: not as a sidekick to Santa, but as a co-lead whose journey — from thief to hero — is the film’s emotional spine.

Awkwafina, as the rogue elf, is the trailer’s wild card. Her comedy has always thrived on characters with a grudge and a plan, and a villainous elf with a grievance against Santa is a role that fits her timing perfectly. The trailer gives her just enough screen time to establish menace and mischief without explaining her motives, which is the right choice: a Christmas villain’s grudge is better revealed than announced.

What the Trailer Does Well — and What It Leaves Open

What impressed us:

• Schwarzenegger as Santa — inspired casting, played with warmth and total commitment
• A genuinely fun odd-couple dynamic between Santa and Ritchson’s thief
• Awkwafina’s rogue elf as a promising, funny villain
• Bright, broad Christmas action staging that suits the holiday window
• An emotional thread — a thief, an estranged daughter, a second chance — underneath the chaos

What we still need to see:

• Whether the premise sustains a full film or stretches thin after the first act
• Whether the comedy stays sharp or softens into sentimentality
• How much of the film’s action is practical invention versus festive gloss
• Whether the elf’s grudge and the bag’s magic get a satisfying explanation

Expectations — Trailer-Based Only

On trailer evidence alone, The Man with the Bag looks like a strong holiday proposition: a beloved star in an unexpected role, a reliable action co-lead, a funny villain, and a premise that children will love and adults will enjoy for its absurdity. Its 2 December Prime Video premiere places it perfectly for the Christmas season, when families go looking for exactly this kind of film — big, warm, funny and easy to watch together. The honest caveat is the one that applies to every trailer review: a trailer is a promise, not a film. Schwarzenegger’s Santa could become a seasonal favourite, or the premise could wear out its welcome before the credits. The full review after 2 December will judge which Christmas this film delivers.

Our trailer rating: 7.5/10 — A joyful, absurd, well-cast trailer that makes 2 December feel like a date to keep. Full review follows after release.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Man with the Bag about?

As shown in the trailer, Santa Claus recruits a thief named Vance to recover his stolen magic bag of presents from a rogue elf, with Christmas itself at stake.

Who stars in The Man with the Bag?

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Santa Claus, Alan Ritchson as the thief Vance, and Awkwafina as the rogue elf.

Who directed The Man with the Bag?

Adam Shankman, from a script by Allan Rice, for Amazon-MGM.

When does The Man with the Bag release?

It premieres on Prime Video on 2 December 2026.

When was The Man with the Bag trailer released?

The official trailer was unveiled on 2 November 2026, as the holiday marketing season began.

Is the 7.5/10 rating for the film?

No — it rates the trailer only. The full film review will follow after release, with its own rating.

Is this Schwarzenegger’s first Christmas movie?

No — it is his second Christmas film, and his first time playing Santa Claus as a leading action hero.