Oooooh it's almost Christmas month! In honour of this I have decided to go straight into Christmas and as the Christmas Chronicles 2 was released yesterday, where better to start than the original?!
I won't lie to you guys, I watched this movie with my mum at the end of October, what you gunna do? She was a little hesitant, she prefers movies made for TV rather than Netflix, but she absolutely loved this one and I've managed to swing her round to the great world of streaming.
Also to state this upfront, I have been reliably informed (by my mother) that the band made in the jail scene was the E Street Band, I did not have a clue. But that's a nice little Christmassy fact there for ya, there's something here for everyone, music fans, action fans, Christmas fans, a nice lil family friendly movie.
When I first saw this movie I was a little like 'eh, Netflix must be the new Hallmark', well 2018 Lauren, you were wrong about this and many other things. I'm so glad you came to your senses and made some BIG changes. But that is beside the point! While the movie is a little cheesy and predictable, I wouldn't say it's direct to TV material, it has serious cinema quality vibes. Man, I miss the cinema...
Obviously first port of call here is the fact a big movie name is our Santa. Now I have only seen a few movies with Kurt Russell in and they are not the big action ones you'd expect. In fact the very first one was 'The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes' and this was solely down to my infamous quest to watch all the Disney movies ever made. I'm still at 2006, thanks for asking. That got put on the backburner (again) when I got sent back to the office to work rather than doing it from home. BUT, the point here is, you'd automatically expect a high end actor to be in a good movie, and not label him as a has been in a B-list movie, no one thought that apart from my brother and that's just not worth discussing.
I know I said earlier on it is nothing like a Hallmark movie, but I like the cosiness that comes with them, and The Christmas Chronicles does have that. We start out with the typical sad background, the kids lost their hero dad (he's a firefighter) and this sets us up for the adventure. While the sad bit happens off screen and we jump a few years, we start out looking at family videos for each Christmas which opens up the use of the old tape recorder. So anyway, single mum, at work to make ends meat, leaves troublemaker Teddy to look after little sister Kate. You can see where I am going with this so need I continue? The cosy factor I speak of is the fact everything becomes good in the end, it starts out sad and we have the reason behind Teddy acting out and the family falling apart, but once again the Christmas spirit saves the day and brings them all together again. You get that warm and fuzzy feeling only Christmas can give.
I would also like to mention the CGI which comes out of nowhere. Elves are cute and quite aggressive but also entirely CGI which took out a little bit of realism for me but we can't have it all, that is my down point. I think my mum would stop talking to me if I didn't mention the car chase or anything about the macho car at all. We have a red Dodge Charger or Challenger (I think, I'm into movies not cars give me a break, I drive a Polo for crying out loud) and it is used to it's full potential let me tell you. That muscle car does jumps and has the speed and ohhhh the action. Made for pretty good viewing if you ask me (or mum).
Teddy gives me Benny from My Babysitter's A Vampire vibes. Only slightly, but enough for me to mention. Who doesn't love a little Atticus (Dean) Mitchell anyways, have you seen what he's been up to? But credit where credit is due, Judah Lewis did a pretty good job at playing the angsty teen, I related there. Kate on the other hand is bold and is so going to grow up and rule the world. She know what she wants and she will go out and take it and I am so glad it wasn't one of those 'if it wasn't all a dream' movies and there's a sequel with them all involved. That kid is going places.
Obviously I must mention the teeny little twist at the end. Not really a twist but a surprise. And before anyone flags me it isn't a spoiler as everyone knows due to the second one. Goldie Hawn is Mrs. Claus. It was one of those occasions where you'd be like 'aww wouldn't it be nice if it was really Kurt's wife playing opposite him' and it turns out it was! Just adds to that fuzzy feeling my friends.
Can I just say before I wrap this all up (pun SO intended), that I really liked this slightly tougher, bad boy Santa? It was refreshing to see a slightly more realistic guy to the overly nice fat man thrust upon us. You can swing two ways with portrayals of Santa, too jolly or complete nightmare Claus (Bad Santa anyone?), but more often that not it is a case of the suffocating good guy and it was just nice to have a leather jacketed, blues singing, rough around the edges Father Christmas.
So, to put a bow on it (I am in such a good mood!), I give The Christmas Chronicles a big red 8/10. I loved every minute of it and as my mum keeps saying when I remind her the second one needs watching, it is a Christmas Eve movie. You know one of the ones where you know all the jobs are done and you can sit and just wait for Christmas to arrive by properly sitting down and relaxing to a themed movie. She's right. And I'll probably end up putting it on when I get back from work on Christmas Eve so we can watch it as a family.
I hope Lockdown 2.0 hasn't treated you too badly and you are all staying safe in these troubling times. But rest assured the holidays are coming and at least we have something to look forward to! As always my peeps, I love you and you deserve the world, see you next week for more Christmas fun! xoxo
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