Weihnachten bei mir oder bei dir? 2

Your Christmas or mine surrounded the loneliness of the holidays with two different family archetypes - the feuding British upper crust and the working class pub warmth. Despite occasionally playing to stereotypes, the film did a deep dive into both families, while fleshing out each of the characters. The final 20 minutes created Christmas magic when both came together.

The sequel has a bigger budget but less heart. It played with every single obnoxious stereotype imaginable with the loud lower class family. Occasionally, it also conflated race with class. Existing characters like the grandfathers on both sides and the sassy aunt received even less acknowledgment and maybe had five lines each in the film. There were newer characters added that did absolutely nothing for the plot including Jane Krakowski's American authoress.

This was such an absolute waste of talent. The original cast had so much chemistry I wanted to see the grandfathers playing off of each other, more honest intimacy between the young couple and the parents fleshing out their own relationships.

Whenever the script quieted down we got the magic intimate moments from the original. There were even times when the script let the characters grow and we learn that everyone in the working class family can ski rather than playing to stereotypes.

However, the strength of the original script surrounded the feelings of the family members and the honest communication.

But this felt more like let's take two different British family archetypes and put them into a big budget Hollywood movie and see what happens ... Sadly,none of the original magic ....

Ok where do I start with this dull sequel to a movie which is lacking any decent story telling in the process?

Right the two main love characters have zero chemistry in terms of connection. They both looked bored in terms of the awful dialogue they are given but there is just no spark between them for the whole movie length.

The other side characters are just wasted in terms of development.

It was an lacksture affair with a script from the 1970's comedy genre of that time.

Personally I am at a lost why they made a sequel as the original wasn't much to write home about in truth.

If your at a loose end watch something else on a Xmas movie list as this movie is just a pile of Donkey dung!

This is a real family Christmas film and has a comedy heart. It is formulaic but there are notable comedic performances by Daniel Mays and Jane Krakowski and the locations are fantastic. Having been to the Tyrolean region, the production team really captured the ethos of the place and it felt authentic. Asa Butterfield's performance however is slightly lacking and overshadowed, I found the pacing of the film to be odd too. It is set over 2 days predominately and yet so much happens. It would have benefitted from being a week for example to show more realistic development. It is up there with other ski themed films like chalet girl so if you're reminiscing of the alps it may be the film for you.

Despite the mixed reviews for the first 'Your Place or Mine' film, I actually quite enjoyed it. A little corny, and a little cliché at times, but that's what Christmas films are for. I also managed to find the first one funny and emotional at times.

This sequel, however, has ruined any fondness of the first film that I previously had.

The likeable female lead character, Hayley, from the first film becomes insufferable in this film, boiled down to a naïve character who does nothing but complain throughout the film, jumping to conclusions and offering not much else.

Asa Butterfield's character doesn't offer much else, although a weak script and lack of real storyline may be at fault here.

Character arcs from the first film, like the one with James' father, are also completely negated in this film.

The family of Hayley also come across as exceptionally ungrateful in this film, and frankly rude. A likeable family and the "hero's" of the first film become the villains of this film, with Daniel May's character leading the charge as possibly one of the most unlikeable character's I've had on my screen this year.

Not a sequel we needed, I'd urge anyone who watched and enjoyed the first film to not bother watching this one.

This is a paint-by-numbers sitcom mega-episode, but it's an entertaining sequel nonetheless. The story is based on a muddle of fortunes between stereotypical class groups that often feels awkward, yet is sometimes unabashedly honest. It has many cringeworthy moments, and there are some genuine laughs too. Some characters are massively underwritten, but it really doesn't matter. Take it for what it is, which is light entertainment at its most enthusiastic, and much better than most of the crap the American studios are passing off as comedy these days. If only the Krampus guy (from The Counterfeiters) had more screen time!