‘All I Want For Xmas’ Review
Stars: Antonio Sabato Jr., Shannen Doherty, Mason Douglas, Jsu Garcia, Juliocesar Chavez, Jade Pettyjohn, Sally Kirkland, Kylie Rogers, Richard Riehle, Eddy Salazar, Reese Hartwig, Paul Kouri, Paloma Maria Mettler | Directed by Emilio Ferrari
When Jamie makes a Christmas wish of having different parents and no annoying sister that comes true, he finds himself living the extravagant lifestyle he always dreamed of. He has every toy he has ever wanted and could never have got in his previous life… But at what cost?
Ok well, reviewing a Christmas film three months away from the actual event is probably one of the weirdest experiences ever. But, here we are. I have watched it, so now you get to read what I thought of it. As you should expect, All I Want For Xmas, like most Christmas films, spends most of the time reminding you it is Christmas in as many ways possible. The story is your standard ‘annoying child does something silly, learns how foolish he is and ‘the meaning of Christmas’ and then all is great again’. It doesn’t really do anything new, but then as a film for children it ticks pretty much all of the boxes. Christmas? Tick. Heart warming? Tick. Meaningful Message? Tick. Children who are way too spoilt and don’t understand the difficulty of managing finances? Tick tick and tick.
Ok, Christmas jingles which will never leave my head aside, let’s look at the wish list in terms of quality shall we? There were a few unforgivable moments in this film which you thought would have been caught by editing, but apparently weren’t. The biggest and most unforgivable being that he wakes up on Christmas Eve twice! Yeah. It doesn’t even make sense even with the magic of the film. He just wakes up on the 24th of December, goes to bed and then boom, it is the 24th of December again. It’s a pretty major mistake for a film which is based around Christmas and counting down to it. I think even the intended audience would notice that one. Also, I may not have a strong understanding of the United States education system but who goes to school on the 24th of December? That is cruel enough if you ask me.
Alright, I am riding this film pretty hard. I mean, it’s a film for children right? So I should let it off? No, I don’t think so. I wasn’t expecting an Oscar contender but it just feels like the film makers of All I Want For Xmas didn’t give it the care and love it deserved. So unchristmassy. They should go straight on Santa’s naughty list.
** 2/5
All I Want For Xmas is set for a UK release on November 2nd, courtesy of High Fliers Films.
