Viel Wirbel um Weihnachten

This is basically the identical plot to Catch Me If You Claus on Hallmark, which is like when Hollywood made Armageddon and Deep Impact and released them the same summer, like nobody would notice. I like Ludacris as a dad driving an SUV, not a "Furious" street racer. Overall, it's a tad slow and not as magical as I'd hoped. I watched with my first grader and he started working on his Christmas list through most of the second half which isn't a good sign for a movie with a real Santa Claus. The best joke in the movie is Santa's beard which is black and white. Spoiler alert he dyed it white because he's really old. The joke works. And, for a movie with the title "snow" there is a concerning lack of snow, in Atlanta no less.

It almost works thanks to Lil Rel Howery, but 'Dashing Through the Snow' ultimately falls flat.

Howery does produce some good stuff as Santa, though he - as with the film in general, really - isn't given enough to work with to make it a success. There is mild amusement throughout, but the film needed more entertainment from its plot and much better pacing to be enjoyable.

The bad guys are particularly poorly written and used, while the Xmas vibes aren't really all that abundant. The cast, namely Howery, Ludacris and Madison Skye Validum, all do try and are the film's strongest element. I just needed more from elsewhere with this, I could feel my interest waning from around the midway point.

As the years go on, we seem to be flooded more and more with Christmas movies every year. Yes, it's a staple that Hallmark Channel movies are released weekly, but it also seems that all of the streaming services have gotten on the bandwagon. Disney+ has released a few, but I'm here to share my thoughts on Dashing Through the Snow. I have thought nothing of this film over the last couple of months but decided to give it a try. While it's not very good overall, this movie's heart is in the right place. Here's where I found some mild enjoyment in this aggressively mediocre holiday flick.

Eddie Garrick (Ludacris) is a social worker who always works on Christmas. Not this year though, as his daughter Charlotte (Madison Skye Validum) is left with him on Christmas Eve by his ex-wife Allison (Teyonah Parris). Having a traumatic childhood involving Santa Claus, Eddie's Christmas spirit has been absent his whole life. Well, when the real Santa appears in front of him and his daughter, the movie becomes a night on the town with Nick (Lil Rel Howrey). Along the way, Eddie just may start believing again and may even have a chance at earning his family back in the meantime.

The premise itself screams that it has all the right intentions. The main problem is that many other films, especially holiday films have tackled stories like this numerous times. Ludacris is fine as the lead, Lil Rel Howrey is quite amusing and easily the best part about the movie, and Ludacris' chemistry with Validum as his daughter was believable. It has all the hallmarks of a Christmas movie involving Santa and is very much the ending you expect it to have. I rolled my eyes countless times watching Dashing Through the Snow, but I will say that it was sweet enough that it held a smile on my face most of the time. So did I like it or dislike it? I'm honestly not even sure, and I have taken the time to think about it.

For families, I think there are far worse new options out there this year, but for adults, it's a lot like many classics that you already love. It looks very clean and well-decorated, as all Disney films do, but it does get bogged down in the final act by some CGI that clearly says this film was made for television. With a bigger budget and some risks taken in the story, this had the potential of being much better. It sadly just feels like a replica, and not a great one. Dashing Through the Snow is now streaming on Disney+ and it's a harmless watch. It's probably not one that I will revisit, but it was passable.

Dashing Through the Snow (2023) is a Christmas comedy movie streaming on Disney+ and it was directed by Tim Story. This movie was a first time watch for me and it was pretty okay.

Positives for Dashing Through the Snow (2025): This movie has some charm to the story where you have a father taking his daughter on an adventure with Santa Claus on Christmas Eve and this is the type of story that I would have dreams of as a kid. The cast does a good job with their performances including Lil Rel Howery as Nick, Ludacris as Eddie, Madison Skye Validum as Charlotte and Teyonah Parris as Allison. The movie has a good pace to it and it does keep that up with enough stuff to keep me invested in the story. And finally, the chase and action sequences are entertaining to watch.

Negatives for Dashing Through the Snow (2023): The villains are bland and one-dimensional which is almost always the case with a number of movies directed by Tim Story and it is getting old for me. There is nothing to these people that make them stand out or pop as characters and they get their asses kicked very easily. The journey for Ludacris' character is very predictable from the beginning of the movie where you know exactly what is going to happen. And finally, the movie feels like it's rushing things to get to the end quicker than it needs to.

Overall, Dashing Through the Snow (2023) is a standard average Christmas road trip movie that has everything that kids will enjoy watching during the Christmas season and that is pretty okay with me as I did have some fun watching this movie.

Had a cute line or two, but mostly watching this was just painful. Poor writing, unnatural, choppy dialogue, and disjointed transitions between scenes made this difficult to watch. Unoriginal plot. Terrible acting by everyone (except the little girl and Nick), along with the dialogue made us laugh but not in a good way, I am amazed Disney would put their name on this. 10 times worse than a cheesy Hallmark movie. With more time with a quality director, better acting, and some subtle rewriting and editing, it could be believable and funny. Feels like it was it was thrown together in a week with no test audience or review. Like a made for after school special. Shots around Atlanta are a nice break from LA, NY, and Vancouver BC. Still, Two thumbs down. 👎