In Review: The Christmas Chronicles

Synopsis: The story of sister and brother, Kate and Teddy Pierce, whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus on camera turns into an unexpected journey that most kids could only dream about.

Review: An early treat from Netflix. ‘The Christmas Chronicles’ sees Kurt Russell take on the role of Santa in a film that is brought to us by the same team that brought us by Chris Columbus and the team behind the ‘Harry Potter’ movies.

The Story

In regards to the story. This is a fairly straightforward tale in the tradition of movies films such as ‘Jack Frost’ and ‘Santa Clause The Movie’

Kate and Teddy Pierce have lost their father and they’re both struggling with the loss and adjusting to living with their mother who is working a lot in order to keep food on the table. When Kate catches a glimpse of Santa delivering toys to their home on a home video she sets into action a plan in order to try and capture Santa fully on film.

One thing leads to another and Kate and Teddy wind up having an adventure with Santa when they help him to locate his Reindeer and toys after a slay crash.

The Acting

Kurt Russell is brilliant as Santas and is not someone I’d have thought off for the role given that he is more known for straight drama or action movies. There’s a fun jail sequence where Santa forms an impromptu band and sings the blues, which I really enjoyed.

Judah Lewis and Darby Camp are pretty solid as brother and sister Teddy and Kate. Camp lends a nice mix of vulnerability and wit to Kate whereas Lewis is both sarcastic, rebellious and vulnerable as the teenage Teddy who has not lost a father but has lost belief in himself.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley is pretty good as Claire who is Kate and Teddy’s mum but doesn’t really get a huge amount of screen time to work with. But she is believable as Teddy and Kates mum.

Overall

This is a fun movie and definitely one that you can watch with the kids and get a good laugh out of.

The movie had a pretty nice soundtrack, which didn’t overdo it with the typical Christmas bells and whistles, but most impressive and funny was the CGI Elves who were hilarious in their appearances in the film. They even had their own language and had some of the more memorable lines in the film.

In conclusion. This is a fun movie. It may be a bit syrupy and sentimental in parts, but it is also equal parts adventure.