Hi Everyone,
Warning: this post contains spoilers for several Christmas films.
All photographs were taken directly from my television.
Every year I make it a point to write a Christmas post. This year has been the year of Covid-19 and the year of lockdowns. This year most of us have spent more time at home than we would normally. As Christmas rolls around, we see much of the world moving back into lockdowns. This December, I have taken the opportunity to watch several Christmas movies/films. I have subscriptions to both Disney+ and Netflix. This gives me a wide choice of Christmas films. I watched a diverse range of films, which included fantasy, musicals, animated, nostalgic, and even horror.
I’ll begin with the Disney+ Christmas movies.
Nutcracker and the Four Realms
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a fantasy Christmas film, which takes place in a magical world created by the protagonist’s (Clara) deceased mother. The magical world consisting of four realms.
- Land of Sweets
- Land of Snowflakes
- Land of Flowers
- Land of Amusements
The Land of Amusements is referred to as the fourth realm and is at war with the other three realms. Mother Ginger, the regent of the fourth realm, possesses a key that both opens an egg-shaped box, possessed by Clara as well as unlocks a machine, which can turn toys into living beings. Sugar Plum Fairy, the regent of the Land of Sweets, works with Clara to obtain the key from Mother Ginger. However, on receiving the key, Sugar Plum Fairy uses the machine to create an army of toy soldiers to take over all four realms. Clara teams up with Mother Ginger and her other friends to defeat Sugar Plum Fairy.
I found the film to be very enjoyable. The characters and the world were very colourful. It was also full of excitement, adventure and action. The plot line was fairly simple and easy to follow. The twist about Sugar Plum Fairy was quite predictable. Overall, this was good Christmas film, which I would recommend for the whole the family.
Lego Stars Wars Holiday Special
To enjoy this short Lego Stars Wars film, you need to have seen the three Star Wars trilogies as well as have an understanding of the playful aspect of the Lego versions of films.
The film is based after the defeat of the First Order (i.e. after the sequel trilogy). Rey is trying to train Finn in the ways of the Force. The training does not go well. Rey goes to a temple in an attempt to become a better teacher. In the temple Rey finds an artefact that enables her to travel through time. She uses the artefact to travel to many points in time to observe Jedi training in progress. Eventually, this leads her to arrive at a point in time when Darth Vader and the Emperor are on the Death Star. Darth Vader teleports with her and this leads to all sorts of chaos. Eventually, Rey resolves the mess and everyone ends up back in their own time without much disruption to the time continuum.
Meanwhile, on the Millennium Falcon, the Life Day (i.e. Christmas) Party had begun. Many of our surviving favourite characters from across several films showed up. This included droids, wookiees, ewoks, and even keyboard player Max Rebo. Rey Eventually joins the party. The film ends with Yoda wishing everyone a happy Life Day.
As I am familiar with the Stars Wars universe, I understood all the references to the various films from the trilogies. I thought the idea of time travel to bring all the great characters from the past together was great. The Lego style of storytelling made the film family friendly and fun for all ages. I strongly recommend watching this short film if you familiar with the Stars Wars trilogies. If you have not watched the Stars Wars films, I think you will probably find all the jumping in time to be confusing.
Next up, I’ll cover the Netflix Christmas movies.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Jingle Jangle is a musical film, which told much of the story through song and dance. Jingle Jangle tells the story of an inventor (Jeronicus Jangle) who has lost his desire to invent. He previously had his greatest invention, a matador toy, which had its own consciousness, as well as his book of inventions stolen by his apprentice (Gustafson). Jeronicus was further depressed by the death of his wife.
Gustafson used Jeronicus’ book of inventions to become rich. However, Gustafson was incapable of making good inventions himself. Therefore, he planned to steal from Jeronicus again.
Meanwhile, Jeronicus’ granddaughter (Journey) has come to visit. She tries to inspire Jeronicus to return to inventing toys but has little success. Journey finds a toy (Buddy) that Jeronicus was previously working on. She puts the finally pieces together and it comes alive. This toy is even more impressive than the matador.
Gustafson finds out about Buddy and steals it. Gustafson is unable to bring Buddy to life and plans to destroy it. Jeronicus and Journey break into Gustafson’s factory and steal Buddy back before it is destroyed. As a result of this adventure, Jeronicus is reinspired as an inventor and also reunited with his daughter (Jessica).
Jingle Jangle was the first Christmas film I watched this year. It initially jumped out to me because it was new (i.e. 2020 film) and the film clips were appealing. The story was simple to follow but also not particularly deep. The quality of the musical performances were excellent. The scenery and costumes were also great.
Krampus
Krampus is a Christmas horror story with a dash of comedy. The story focuses on a dysfunctional extended family who are staying together during the Christmas period. Max unlike his other family members believes in Santa Claus and the power of Christmas. However, after a fight with his cousins, Max angrily rips up his letter to Santa and throws it into the wind.
That night an evil force visits the town causing a blackout, Krampus and his minions have arrived. Krampus attacks House-by-house and residents go missing. Max’s sister goes missing after going out to look for her boyfriend. Eventually, Krampus and his minions attack max’s home and family. One-by-one his family members are taken. Max is the last remaining member of his family. Krampus gives Max a bell (i.e. it is like his calling card to the unbeliever who summoned him). Max confronts Krampus and apologies.
Max wakes up in his bed. Everything appears back to normal. However, it is revealed that Max and his family are trapped in a snow globe next to hundreds of other snow globes containing families.
The unique Christmas story; should warrant the film at least a consideration. The film was intended as a horror comedy but the comedy side was lacking. There were a few scenes of attacking toys and gingerbread men. The story was easy to understand but lacked consistency and logic. For example, why did the whole town need to be punished for the behaviour of one family?
Christmas Chronicles 1 & 2
I watched both Christmas Chronicle’s films. The first film focuses on a family that always celebrated Christmas together. However, the recent passing of Doug (father) has greatly dampened the Christmas spirit of the family. Kate, the youngest child, wants to rekindle the Christmas spirit. She sets a trap for Santa Claus. The trap works and Kate and her brother (Teddy) meet Santa Claus. This encounter sets off a chain of events that puts Christmas in jeopardy. Santa Claus with the help of Kate and Teddy work together to deliver all the Christmas presents just in time for Christmas day. The encounter with Santa Claus rekindled the Christmas spirit in both Kate and Teddy. It also brought delight to their mother who wished for her children to get along better.
The second film focuses on an elf (Belsnikel) who turned human because he was naughty. Belsnikel wanted to gain access to Santa’s village so he could steal the powerful star atop the Christmas tree. Belsnikel uses Kate, from the first film, to gain access to the village. Once inside the Christmas village Belsnikel attempts to steal the star. Santa tries to stop him but the star ends up breaking. This causes the Christmas village to shut down and puts Christmas at risk again. Santa and Kate build a new star with the help of forest elves. While returning to the North Pole, Belsnikel steals the star and sends Santa and Kate back in time to Boston Airport in 1990 using a special device. To get back to the present, the device needed new batteries. Kate obtains the batteries while encountering her father when he was young. Santa and Kate return to the present and take back the star, which they use to power the village. Santa and Belsnikel resolve their differences and Belsnikel turns back into an elf.
Both Christmas Chronicles film succeed in taking the audience on a magical adventure. I believe the first film had the better storyline. It also demonstrating how bonds can be built by working together. The storyline of the second film was less convincing. Belsnikel seemed too easily swayed and the other elves were too quick to accept him, considering all the chaos he had caused. The village itself was quite a spectacle to see. The elves were funny and cute in both films.
The Grinch (2018)
The Grinch is a classic Dr Seuss story. Most of us are familiar with this story. It is about a green furry character called the Grinch. The Grinch hates Christmas. The Grinch hates Christmas because he feels disconnected from society. He grew up as an orphan and Christmas was a particularly hard time of year for him.
As he hated Christmas, he wanted everyone else to hate Christmas too. Therefore, he attempted to sabotage Christmas by stealing everyone’s Christmas presents. His plan did not work. The Whos (fictional species of creatures) celebrated Christmas even without presents. The Grinch was particularly moved by a young Who named Cindy Lou. He admitted what he had done and apologized to the Whos. Cindy Lou invited the Grinch to celebrate Christmas at her house. The Grinch realised he did not hate Christmas but instead hated being alone and isolated from family and society.
This animated version of the Grinch was created by Illumination, the company that created films such as the Minions and the Secret Life of Pets. I really enjoyed this film. The film really brought out the frustration the Grinch had with Christmas without making his character appear too dark. The Grinch showed a softer side when he interacted with his dog Max and the fat reindeer (Fred) whom he stole from a Who. This character development made the Grinch’s transition to accepting Christmas at the end of the film feel more natural. If you have not watched this film, I suggest you add it to your list for next Christmas.
Klaus
Klaus is an animated film that explains the legend of Santa Claus. The story is told from the perspective of a postman (Jesper Johansson), who is sent to the distant and remote island/town/region of Smeerensburg. Jesper meets a man (Klaus) who lived in a cabin outside of town. Klaus is mourning the loss of his wife. Jesper accidently drops a drawing from a child, which he took earlier in the day. Klaus who has a large collection of toys whom he made for children he was unable to have because his wife died. Klaus decided to give the child, who drew the picture, a toy. Jesper, who wanted to return home, encouraged all the children in Smeerensberg to send Klaus a letter. Jesper wanted to prove he could operate a postal service under extreme conditions and win the confidence of his father, the Postmaster General.
Klaus responded to letters from the children with toys. Jesper would climb down chimneys to deliver these toys. Jesper gave one boy, who was naughty, just a piece of coal; he explained only well-behaved children were given toys. Klaus initially travelled in a carriage pulled by a small horse but the weight of the presents were too much for the horse. He replaced the horse with reindeer. The carriage broke so he replaced it with a sleigh. Many children saw the carriage break and though it looked like it was flying.
Christmas had almost arrived but Klaus was almost out of toys. Jesper persuaded him to build more toys. Klaus was reluctant at first but eventually agreed. Klaus and Jesper became friends with a Sami girl (Margu). The people from her settlement agreed to help Klaus with Christmas. They dressed in bright clothes; they looked similar to elves in appearance. They dressed Klaus in a bright red outfit.
Jesper’s father arrives to take him home. His intentions to leave were revealed. However, Jesper decides to stay and help Klaus deliver the toys to the children at Christmas. The clans from town tried to foil Klaus and Jesper’s plan but they were outsmarted with a decoy sleigh. Afterwards, Klaus continued delivering toys to children every year for many years to come. He even expanded his scope of deliver to other towns, islands and settlements. One day Klaus disappeared but by then he had become a legend.
Of all the Christmas films I watched this year, I enjoyed Klaus the most. The storyline was inspiring, well thought-out and logical. The story was told in such a way that the details of the legend of Santa Claus seemed plausible. The film was also funny and heart-warming in places.
Conclusion
I do not normally write movie reviews and I do not plan to make a habit of it. However, it felt fitting this time and I also have a quite a bit of material to write about.
In this post, I reviewed eight Christmas films. All of the films had merit and all of them would satisfy certain audiences. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and Jingle Jangle gives us the magic of Christmas. The Grinch gives us a familiar story with a few laughs and additional detail. The Christmas Chronicles offers us Christmas fun and adventure. Krampus gives fans of horror something to enjoy. Lego Star Wars Holiday Special provides fans of Stars War an opportunity to see all their favourite characters from across all three trilogies in a Christmas setting. Klaus provides an amazing yet logical origin story for the legend of Santa Claus.
I hope you enjoyed my review. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
More posts
If you want to read any of my other posts, you can click on the links below. These links will lead you to posts containing my collection of works. These 'Collection of Works' posts have been updated to contain links to the Hive versions of my posts.
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Just for Fun: Spot the differences
This was taken from a Christmas cracker.