The Nine Kittens of Christmas

Well, upon seeing the cover for this 2021 Christmas movie, I have to be honest and say that I immediately thought that I would be in for a traditional all-out sappy romantic Christmas movie that only Hallmark can produce. Yet, I opted to sit down and watch "The Nine Kittens of Christmas" on the notion that I hadn't already seen the movie, and also I am on a Christmas movie bender this year.

Sure, there were the traditional romantic cheese in "The Nine Kittens of Christmas", just as you'd expect from Hallmark, but luckily it wasn't over-the-top and it wasn't the sole focal point of the movie. So I will say that "The Nine Kittens of Christmas" was actually a nice sort of break away from the usual formula, which made for an enjoyable and wholesome Christmas movie with something for the entire family.

So writer Erinne Dobson actually managed to put together a wholesome script for the movie, based on the book by Sheila Roberts - not that I can claim to have read said book, much less even heard about it.

"The Nine Kittens of Christmas" stars Brandon Routh and Kimberley Sustad, and they actually carried the movie quite well together.

And there is just something about cats in movies that work out so well, so if you enjoy cats and kittens, then you are in for a treat here.

While "The Nine Kittens of Christmas" is not going to become a Christmas classic for me, it is certainly a movie that was well-worth taking the time to sit down and watch.

My rating of director David Winning's 2021 movie lands on a six out of ten stars.

This movie is great! It didn't feel slow and the acting was decent. The romance between the two leads was perfect and cute. And for them to make a sequel that's just as good, if not better, than the first is amazing. Hallmark really stepped it up for this movie. I hope we see more of this in the future!

It took seven years for Hallmark to finally show us what ever happened to Zachary and Marilee from one of its most beloved Christmas movies, "Nine Lives of Christmas." Was it worth the wait ? Well, in a way, yes.

The movie starts off with a couple of real surprises that leave you intrigued, and then it goes on to resolve those matters in a very interesting way. Sustad, as usual, is wonderful, and her portrayal of Marilee is honest, forthright, and endearing just like in the original movie.

Routh has matured as as actor and seems more comfortable in his role as Zachary. His scenes with Gregory Harrison as Zachary's mentor/father figure are quite good and realistic. The only problem is the script. It tries too hard to draw parallels to the original story and it contains what I call "filler" - a subplot that is intended to give the actors something else to do - that is unimaginative. Here, it is a silly advent calendar that Marilee's sister "found" after 20 years in their deceased's mother's lake house before it was "finally" sold. It's just uninteresting hokem that adds nothing to the story, which good filler should do. Nevertheless, it is nice to see these two characters back together and there is a really sweet pay off at the end. There's some good "extras" here, too. No one makes an entrance into a scene better than Sustad and here she does it again - this time in a stunning green dress. And keep your eye open for a little cameo appearance by the wonderful Paul Campbell, Sustad's frequent co-star.

Love the kitties. This movie had several things going for it. #1 Kittens and cats #2 No "Royal" storyline and #3 None of the overused trio, Candace, Danica and Lacey. Really liked this actress.

7/10 - this sequel 7 years detached from the original is a nice return to one of Hallmark's best Christmas movies to date, but still can't quite match the quality of its beloved predecessor.