Journal d'un dégonflé: Un Noël carrément claustro!

Honestly Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas gets closer to spoiling the magic. Lots of people give and receive gifts on Christmas Day in multiple ways, from parents and from Santa. My ardent Santa loving, Diary of a Wimpy Kid fan children did not notice or say anything about this movie, other than they enjoyed it. We've watched it twice and I had no idea people were upset. It's not the greatest movie I've ever seen, but it was fun while having a good general message about doing the right thing in the end. Don't worry too much about the "spoiler." Diary of a Wimpy Kid fans will enjoy this movie, and the family will laugh. That's a win.

Ah, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever", the latest holiday romp that surprisingly hit a bit closer to home than expected. First off, the premise is classic Wimpy Kid - Greg Heffley, eyeing the tantalizing Mega Station 9000, embarks on a comedic quest to maintain his spot on Santa's nice list. Mix in a creepy elf doll, a lawn-destroying snowball, and a snowplow lady named Gabby, and you've got the recipe for a festive disaster.

But the real kicker is the snowed-in lockdown. As the Heffleys huddle together, battling cabin fever and dwindling supplies, I couldn't help but reminisce about my own COVID lockdown days. The film captures that stir-crazy, family-dynamics-on-edge atmosphere with a comedic twist that's both relatable and absurd.

The heart of the film, however, lies in its unexpected turn towards empathy and generosity. Greg's journey from self-interest to selflessness, especially his interaction with Gabby and her son, adds a layer of depth to the narrative. The movie wraps up with a feel-good resolution, reminding us that sometimes, the best gifts aren't things, but acts of kindness and understanding.

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever" might not be a holiday classic, but it's a genuinely funny, heartwarming tale that offers a few laughs, a bit of nostalgia, and a gentle reminder of the spirit of the season. Plus, Elfrendo's creepy, unblinking gaze is sure to haunt your Christmas dreams, in a fun way, of course!

Going into this movie, my expectations were understandably low after the garbage that was released the previous two years. However this definitely crushed those expectations. This movie is no doubt the best animated one so far, and a pretty solid Christmas movie.

"Cabin Fever" is probably my favorite book in Jeff Kinney's series, so I was pretty happy when a movie was announced. Obviously I was still cautious due to how bad the first one and Rodrick Rules were, but this was pretty good. It has a very strong Christmas vibe which I wasn't expecting, the voice acting improved ten-fold, and it was overall really entertaining.

I also appreciate how much Greg Heffley grows as a character throughout this. He starts off still somewhat mean and selfish, but by the end he ends up as a selfless, kind-hearted teenager. The characters in this movie are just very well written all around, and somehow even Manny is pretty tolerable and actually said something that let out a weak laugh from me. I also throughly enjoyed watching the sequence where the snowstorm trapped everyone inside, as that was a huge highlight of the book and this movie portrayed it pretty dang well. The movie also portrays very wonderful messages about spending time with family, telling the truth, being on your best behavior, and enjoying the holiday season.

Obviously there are still some cons, because these movies will probably never be a 10/10 let alone a 9/10. First off, this movie has a lot more annoyingly cringe dialogue compared to the other animated movies, particularly with Susan. I've never liked Susan in the animated movies because of her annoying voice and her overly-cheery personality. Rowley is also not the greatest in this one, but definitely better than the first two movies. Second, the beginning is the weakest part and drags on about 25 minutes too long.

Overall, this movie really really surprised me since Disney has released some real stinkers this year and the first two animated Wimpy Kid movies were less than mediocre. The Christmas spirit is strong, there's a ton of character development, and is a great movie in general. 8/10, would recommend to Wimpy Kid fans and Christmas lovers alike.

So originally, I wasn't planning on writing a review on this since I didn't really have much to say but looking back, there is quite a bit I'd like to say about this film and it somehow managed to exceed my expectations. So, what do I think of this film? Well, surprisingly, I ended up really enjoying it. I thought it was just going to be like the other films and just be okay, but no, it was actually pretty good. Let's discuss it.

So first off, let's talk about the animation. These models still take time getting used to, but they feel slightly better in this film in terms of the facial expressions. They still aren't as expressive as other stylized animated films out there, but it looks fine in my opinion. Everything else looks good though, the lighting and shading looks better and there's a cool shots thrown here and there.

Next off, the story. So the story is pretty similar to the books as to be expected, with some minor changes, like how in the book, Greg gets in trouble for hanging posters on the school wall, with the dye ending up getting into the wall, and in the movie, Greg ends up destroying a snowplow, but there are also some pretty big changes. The film takes on a more campy-Holliday special vibe where it basically becomes a "Spend time with your family, presents are about giving not receiving" type of mumbo jumbo, but it's still fun to watch even though it might not have the same cynical nature of the books.

Next up, the characters. First off Greg. Greg is still portrayed as a lot more likeable in this, nothing more to say. He is still a bit mean to Rowley, but not nearly as bad as book Greg. I don't really mind this change compared to most people, especially since in the original cabin fever book Greg's jerk-ish nature was also toned down compared to other books. Next up Rodrick. Rodrick is still fun to watch in this. He is a lot more funnier moments in this compared to his appearance in the other movies, and I like how they kept his character growth from Rodrick Rules where he's still there for his brother when things get really down for him, but he's still going to mess with him whenever he gets the chance. Next up is Hank, who I feel like has reverted a bit back to his live action movie personality with how crazy and overreactive he gets to certain things, like how he is constantly monitoring his family during the snow storm, which was funny and I really enjoyed watching. I don't really have much to say about Susan and Manny, they haven't really changed much since the other 2 films.

In conclusion, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever is a fun little christmas movie. It's a solid adaptation with the books with barely any major changes, the characters feel more fun to watch, and the animation even got a bit of an upgrade. Overall, I'd give this film a 6.5/10. Thanks for reading!

Honestly it's a banger movie, the animation was well done, the voice acting was great, it was funny but also had a really wholesome and touching ending. Unfortunate for people that it "ruined Santa" for their kids I guess, but I find that a stupid reason to rate anything 1 star. Give it a watch, it's a really solid Christmas movie and will be joining my yearly rotation. To me this was a very classically styled Christmas story; a character stars out selfish, and then does a good deed due to the magic of Christmas.

In general I prefer the animated adaptations to the live ones, so if you've put off watching this because you disliked the live action ones, I urge you to watch it! It really communicated the art style and storyline way better than a live action movie would have, the parts where there's animation in the book's style is probably my favourite artistic choice.

Again, I really encourage people to give this movie a try, it's new but it has a very classic storyline.