Jingle Jangle - Un'avventura natalizia

In the filmmaker's want to create a universe, he neglected the plot (ie what happens in said universe). There's a lot going for the film: some amazing singing, toe-tapping lyrics, some good choreography, dazzling cinematography, set design, editing. You can tell they really tried to make something special and had no limits to get it. That, though is likely the problem. Limits make creatives cunning and conservative with their resources, it leads to re-writes & redesigns & trimming of the fat. Here, you can tell it has no limits and thus an inexperienced filmmaker is let loose, you can hardly blame him for not grounding the idea in originality or complexity. This is obviously a simple child's tale, there's no problem there. Nobody expected this to be The King and I or Sound of Music in subtext, but the characters too often stop everything to sing a full song, when that song has little to do with furthering their character or the plot. When it does, the plot inches forward in a very slow, predictable and tired way. There is more fun when the young cast is going on then when we flash forward. At least the young brooding toy maker has a Phantom of the Opera darkness that is fun and matches well against the bright Christmas backdrop. However, as soon as we go to the later times CGI characters, not unlike the plastic ones in the early days of cinema (90's Flubber or Small Soldiers comes to mind), take over the direction of the scene but aren't likable enough to care about nor dislikable enough to care about either. They are flat, the whole film falls flat, is hollow, too simple for a mega spectacle. It reminded me of the terrible La La Land, in which everybody in Hollywood thought was brilliant, but my family and I kept waiting for it get started, unable to engage with. I love that they have an all black cast, black filmmakers... totally about time to do so... but this film wasn't the right one to invest in creatively. The production was up to being the best Christmas movie of the season, but the story and delivery simply didn't deserve the attention. I hope Netflix and other continue to invest in black cinema, just with better scripts & more interesting deep characters... even in a musical, even for kids, this fell flat.

Looks amazing, sounds fantastic; and the costumes are nothing short of glorious. But this film needs to head back to the cutting room and loose about 30 minutes.

with John Legend as producer, it's no surprise that the voices are impressive. The musical numbers and choreography top notch.

The combination of digital animation and live action is seamless.

But this film feels heavy and by the end of it, we were carrying kids to bed.

I am a sucker for a good Christmas film, and a good underdog story. This one hit all the right notes. Yes, there are tooth-achingly cheesy moments-what would a good Christmas film be without those? But more importantly, when this movie hits your heartstrings, it really hits HOME. I was sobbing in the best, happy-cry way at multiple points, and when everything ties up with a bow at the end, it feels so truly well-earned. This captures the real meaning of Christmas-it's definitely going on the once-a-year Christmas film rotation.

Grab the family, get comfy & enjoy great singing, acting, sets, & animation. The people that rated this low apparently need more movies like this in their lives. It was beautiful, clean and added a bit of magic & belief which is what we all need this Christmas. Wonderfully over the top - I highly recommend watching!!

I went in blind with this movie. I didn't watch the trailer. And I was pleasantly surprised. I love musicals hence my name. I adored some of the songs in the movie. The STORYLINE is EASY to follow if you pay attention. The people giving it negative reviews must be ADHD or just plain miserable and unimaginative. How can you say Felicia Rashad is crappy actor? What about Forrest Whittaker? Come on now. They are film veterans, y'all need to go back to bed and get back in on the right side.

The story essentially is about family and believing in yourself when all hope is lost. The impossible is POSSIBLE if you have faith in your ability. And don't forget to ask for help when you need it the most! How hard is that to follow? Don't listen to the negative people!

Watch it for yourself. Absolutely fantastical and purely for people with hearts!