Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger!

Not normally one for writing film reviews but having just watched this with the kids felt compelled to defend it (to a certain extent).

The key word is KIDS film.Mine are 3 and 6 and they both sat laughing the whole way through and immediately wanted it on again when it finished.That,in my book,is a good enough measure of a children's film rather than expecting it to have lots of subtle gags that adults would appreciate.Having said that,being that I'm a bit silly natured myself,I found it amusing enough in places to keep me watching alongside them without wishing for the end too much.

The story line is beyond ridiculous but if you're after a good hearted film to get you in the Christmas mood with your kids you could do worse.

It is better than suggested on here. There is a lot of crap on the Hallmark and Christmas channels that average 5 or 6/10 and this a lot better than those.

It is not great by any stretch but the production and acting is much better and although it took too long to get to the ending, there are more than enough laughs to make it worthwhile.

Life is full of awful, scary, and full of serious things. You know what is refreshing? A bit of mindless watching that is not important or meaningful or relevant. Sometimes we just need silly fun. Stupid, silly, completely unbelievable fun. This ridiculous movie makes my children laugh. And it makes me laugh. It even makes my husband laugh (no mean feat).

There are a lot of talented, serious, and celebrated actors in this movie who are not taking themselves seriously. And isn't that refreshing!

The show itself is the highlight. So many clichés. Jessica Hynes arriving on the stage sitting in a flying wreath as the child singing sensation who's never moved on... The bleak, Dickensian number... The important classical piece... the totally awful rap number... and my favorite, "All I Want is Christmas Stuff". HAHAHAHAHA.

And of course, TWO David Tennants.

Don't be a Scrooge. Have some fun.

This film isnt as good as the first mostly improvised one, but I still found it fun. The plot is ridiculous, the acting not great, and what those poor kids were put through, although seemingly dangerous, is hilarious. Its daft humour is exactly what I like. The kids expressions are enough to make me laugh out loud. Its daft, its implausible, it's a kids Christmas film... anyone leaving bad reviews needs to give their heads a wobble... especially the guy that took his other half to the cinema to see it. How romantic!?? Ha! Stick it on, find your inner child and enjoy it for what it is. Silly fun.

After the pleasing (justified) reaction to 2009s Nativity!, it's not unsurprising to find that two further films would follow it, starting with this, the first of the sequels. Formula remains the same as the first film, here we have David Tennant (great coup by writer and director Debbie Isitt to get him in a dual role) as an harangued teacher out on the road in charge of kiddies as they head towards the National 'Song for Christmas' Competition. Along side him, pulling the the emotional and cunning mental strings, is man-child Mr. Poppy (Marc Wooton once again on film stealing form), enter mirth, poignancy and a raft of engaging kiddies guaranteed to warm the cockles during Yuletide.

This is undeniably Isitt and her team treading on safe ground, which is both a blessing and a curse. For although the finale here - as regards the competition - has a different twist to the first film, it still feels like a redux of that picture - this is because it is. There's also a problem in that the last third is crammed packed with the competition song entries, not to say the songs and routines aren't great (Isitt and editor Nicky Ager co-writing), they are, and it's a nice cross reference of different styles of music. It's just that there comes a point when it veers close to being filler to pad the pic out to over 100 minutes of film, where much of the comedic human drama gets lost in the mix.

However, it's still a warm film, and a real foot tapper that's nice to get involved with at Christmas time. 6/10