Il faut sauver Noël 2

Northpole aired on the Hallmark channel as part of their Christmas in July programming.

Cute movie starring Lori Loughlin, Bailee Madison, & Dermot Mulroney. The movie is actually a sequel, but it is not necessary to have seen the first installment.

Mackenzie (Loughlin) inherits her Aunt's inn in Vermont and ponders selling it and getting back to her high powered lifestyle in the city as soon as possible.

What follows is Mackenzie's journey to rediscover her Christmas spirit and what truly is important to her heart.

Incredible piece of shoe-horning of the the story into a budget. Storyline necessitates the "saving" of an old guest house as a metaphor for "saving" the spirit of Christmas in Loughlin's character. Truth is, the tightwads in the Production company got hold of a cheap hire on a set and that drove the script. Good and energetic performances from the Butler and the visiting Elf-Girl. Unfortunately the lead actor, Loughlin is vanilla nothingness, just a brown paper bag of a performance and as a viewer I could care less if she saves the Hotel (and herself) or not. The Love interest is just a plank of wood with a neat jawline - the Ivy was more animated. Some young actors needed this film to get a step up in their career but unfortunately, they were in the control of a cheap Prodution firm who were determined to do no favors for anyone. Too bland. Too thin. No investment emotionally, commercially, artistically or creatively in this project - and it showed. I really had no idea who Lori Loughlin is but half-recognised her face...some Googling shows that she's been charged with Fraud by the USA High Court in 2019. I suppose she really didn't know anything about honesty and spirituality in real life- so why would we expect her to act out those concepts with any skill ?

Lori Loughlin finds a sense of place, falls in love with handyman Dermot Mulroney and, oh yeah, saves her aunt's country hotel and Christmas while she's at it, in the second of Hallmark's annual "Northpole" series.

"Open for Christmas" grafts a standard Hallmark romantic comedy onto NORTHPOLE's elaborate magical thesis in a workmanlike fashion. However, there is little in the way of dramatic tension to make this worth watching. Ms. Loughlin inherits her aunt's hotel; it has no guests and no source of income. Even so, there is little sense of financial urgency about the outcome once Donovan Scott as Santa tells Ms.Louglin he is depending on her, despite the occasional histrionics.

The performances are fine. I won't claim that Donovan Scott has cornered the market on Santa, but he has performed the role once or twice a year for more than a decade. Pierre Jodoin's cinematography is excellent; he manages to capture that grey afternoon snowfall light that shows up around Christmas. Yet the script itself never manages to make the viewer think that the inevitable romcom happy ending is ever in doubt.

This is a lighthearted story about Santa and elves and a nostalgic inn. There isn't a lot of plot and what story there is rambles and gets convoluted. But for those who are willing to forget reality and just ride along, it is enjoyable.

I've watched a few movies where Santa and/or the elves get a little too silly and childish in an effort to draw out humor. This movie uses a lighter touch with the mythical characters. There is still plenty of fantasy and fun.

Lori Loughlin and Dermot Mulroney are both over 50 at the time of the movie, but you sure don't notice that, at least with Loughlin. They work together well enough, but it's not their relationship that's magical.

For me, the real star of the show is Bailee Madison, as Clementine the elf. This young actress impresses me every time she does a Hallmark movie and this movie is no exception. Here, although she is only 16 at the time, she is starting to come into a role that isn't necessarily for a teenage actress. She interjects energy and optimism and a little wonder.

Not long after the original Northpole film aired, Hallmark announced that a sequel to the film under the working title Northpole 2 before being now called by its current name Northpole: Open For Christmas was in production and like most Hallmark fans, I had an open mind to see it. To me, this has to be one of the best sequel films Hallmark ever made.

Now for the plot. Clementine the elf was given a new task by Santa to help a workaholic Real Estate agent (played by the ever wonderful Lori Loughlin) restore her late aunt's Inn which actually serves as beacon for Santa's sleigh while at the same time helping her regain her true spirit of Christmas she lost as a kid.

As far as we know, Bailee Madison was the only actress from the original film to reprise her role as our favorite lovable elf Clementine. Santa Clause unfortunately was no longer played by Robert Wagner as in the previous film and was replaced with Donovan Scott for this film and his role as Santa was actually equally as wonderful as how Robert portrayed him. All the actors did an amazing job in this film especially Ava Telek (April Telek's daughter) as the widowed carpenter's daughter. Like the original, the movie was shot in Montreal, Canada, but at a different part of the city.

All in all, this is a great sequel film. Wonderful acting, good plot though there were some flaws, and good special effects. Like the original film, some people may love it, some may not love it, but hey, everyone's entitled to their own opinion.