Mission: Cadeaux

Andy is a smart kid. His schemes keep getting him into trouble. Santa's Naughty List is real and Santa Claus (Danny Glover) puts Andy on it. He recruits 8 other naughty kids to do a heist on Santa's workshop.

It's a Disney Channel TV movie. I recognize one or two of these kids. I don't particularly like any of these characters. I do like the silly concept. At least, it's unique. The execution is another story. It's just so tween in filmmaking. Maybe you have to be that age to like this. There may also be too many kids. Fewer kids would allow each to stand out. In the end, I don't care about all these kids or their scheme by extension.

The Naughty Nine is an enjoyable holiday romp rittled with plot holes, which is somehow held together care of a few strong performances by the child actors playing the title characters. Beware if you have mischievous, thrill-seeking children... This movie offers plenty of inspiration. Some potential fun is sacrificed in service to a plot and pace that feels weighed down by the sheer amount of ground it purports to cover (and the number of characters sharing significant screen time). This reviewer may have dozed off in the latter half but I recall only one of the "Naughty" getting a satisfying redemptive arc, which, again, is a result of a story bogged down by the overall concept. There are fun moments and ideas a-plenty but leaks spring from the plot holes hastily covered with a thin veneer of sugary, peppermint glaze. Some solid performances left this viewer pining for a more concise holiday jaunt, but the 8 year old viewer next to us squealed in delight when the sequel was teased, so Naughty Nine certainly struck a few notes just right. 5.7/10.

I'll be honest, at first I thought it was gonna be a stupid movie just by judging the concept for this. After watching this, it kinda is, but turned out okay. The Naughty Nine is a mixed heist where some may have gone well, while others that have been blown. It may have a generic story, stale jokes and some of the characters being bland. But there are some of the things that surprised me such as good acting, creative set ups for the North Pole, and the heart of the film that connects well. I won't say that it's a must watch, but if you're looking for a Christmas movie from Disney Channel, this might be something during Christmas time. But maybe at least once to see what you think of the movie more than the stupid concept of a naughty list heist. It may not be the best heist I've seen, but like the Naughty Nine themselves, at least it's to change a little bit of Disney Channel's colors for Christmas movies.

A group of kids who feel they where unfairly put on the naughty list by Santa Claus (Danny Glover), decide to pull off a plan to go to the north poll and rob Santa's workshop of the toys they didn't get for Christmas.

This film is not great but amusing, a fun film to enjoy for the holiday season, never really tries to anything more. The kids are great, and all seem to play off each other very well, scenes in the north poll are also well shot, feeling like your there. The suspension of disbelief can be stretched pretty high like Home Alone (1990) although not quite on the same level, but amusing for everybody.

Staring the obvious: Home Alone meets Oceans Eleven. Some characters are frustrating cliches (I sincerely cannot handle Jon Anthony) and adults serve merely as plot-furthering side characters, but it's tolerable. If I'm subjected to more watches of it, however, it might wear me down as I have low tolerance for the genre of Precocious Kids Who Manipulate and Outsmart Oblivious Adults genre. As another reviewer mentioned, they try to cram as much individual character development as possible, but that comes at the expense of getting in depth enough for most of them. Also, let's just address the fact that the pilot is clearly to be a Chris Pratt type - I swear this guy must be his body double. I wish it had a touch more edge but I'm not the target audience. Grab some (potent) 'nog and you'll be OK.