Netflix And Chill: That Christmas (2024)

If you rolled your eyes and had to stop yourself from vomiting when you heard that there was another Christmas movie coming from Richard Curtis, and one that yet again made use of different intertwining and intersecting storylines, then you wouldn't be alone. There are many people who will probably never forgive him for Love Actually (although I quite like that one, mainly thanks to Hugh Grant and Bill Nighy), but maybe this animated feature will allow you to view him in a slightly better light.

Based on children's books written by Curtis, collaborating with illustrator Rebecca Cobb, this has a screenplay co-written by Curtis and Peter Souter and direction from Simon Otto. There's also a voice cast that includes Brian Cox, Guz Khan, Fiona Shaw, Bill Nighy, Lolly Adefope, Rhys Darby, and Jodie Whittaker, as well as many others (familiar and not so familiar). If you're interested already then you shouldn't end up disappointed.

The main story is told to viewers by Santa (Cox). He's visiting a small community that could potentially be about to have a very bad Christmas. A number of children have been left alone while their parents are stranded elsewhere, one young lad (Danny, voiced by Jack Wisniewski) is upset by the fact that he won't see his dad, as well as his mum (Whittaker) having to head off to her nursing job, and a stern teacher (Mrs. Trapper, voiced by Fiona Shaw) might have her own sadness and problems buried underneath a stern and prickly exterior.

Curtis has been quite vocal over the past few years in agreeing with criticisms of his own work. He doesn't exactly present anything very diverse, and most of his characters have been white and privileged. While That Christmas tries to show more variety, as do the storybooks, there's still a feeling that it's impossible for Curtis to figure out how to show the true range of human experiences, whatever the age, in modern Britain. Whether he cannot consider them, or whether he is simply unable to fit them into something that he wants to keep essentially cosy and sweet, he has never been able to present a character who doesn't have a safety net and support in place. This is a movie aimed at younger viewers, of course, and it's fine to keep things cosy and sweet. It just feels strange to see Curtis strive to some kind of halfway marker and think he's conquered his personal Everest. Or maybe that's just me projecting.

Anyway, the script from Curtis and Souter is perfectly fine, albeit also perfectly predictable. It would have been nice to have some more tension and surprises, and a few more laughs in between the emotional manipulation would have also been welcome, but it succeeds as it is intended. Think of it as a moving slideshow of various Christmas cards strung up above your fireplace and you won't be far wrong.

Otto directs everything well enough. The visual style is quite lovely throughout, and especially good when presenting aerial shots or just showing off the geography of the small town. It may not be at the very best level of animation we have seen in recent years, but it suits the material. Otto knows that he's in charge of a delicate ornament, and he treats it with the care and tenderness it needs.

A number of child actors do good work, including Wisniewski as the nominal young lead, but it helps to be able to recognise the many great names I mentioned earlier. Cox is a very good Santa, Khan is amusing as his main reindeer, Darby, Adefope, and others provide more of the comedy, and both Whittaker and Shaw add to the emotional heart of the whole thing.

This is a great, easy, choice for family viewing time. It's very Christmassy, very playful, very bright and twinkly, and full of the kind of snow-blanketed landscapes that we rarely see here in the UK. It also feels very disposable though, and I doubt it will endure for as long as the previous major Christmas movie penned by Curtis.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Army Of Thieves (2021)

I know that some people rushed to see this when it first landed on Netflix, but I don't know why. A prequel spin-off from Army Of The Dead, focusing on one of the supporting characters in that film, and directed by the actor who played/still plays that character, there was nothing here that made me consider this a priority. I'm glad I finally got around to it now though, and I can tell everyone else that this is actually quite a bit better than the film that spawned it.

Matthias Schweighöfer is Ludwig Dieter, a mild-mannered man who maintains very strict order in his life while spending his spare time mastering the art of safe-cracking, in theory. He dreams of breaking in to four legendary safes, a quartet of huge devices that become increasingly difficult to break into when approached in a certain order, and he has the chance to turn his dream into a reality when he's approached by a group of criminals, helmed by Gwendoline Starr (Nathalie Emmanuel). But the chance to make his dream comes true also comes with the chance of everything turning into a nightmare.

Clocking in with a runtime of just over two hours, because of course it does, the most pleasant surprise about Army Of Thieves is how well it moves through the fairly silly plot, helped by a decent mix of characters and a few fun set-pieces. Writer Shay Hatten keeps the growing zombie threat from Army Of The Dead simmering away in the background, but sensibly focuses on this as an amusing crime caper, centred on an entertainingly nervy and ill-prepared main character.

Schweighöfer is great in the main role, making it easy to remember why his character was such a standout in the previous film. As awkward with people as he is comfortable with lock mechanisms, he's allowed to be the kind of criminal that viewers can easily root for, in it more for the challenge than any big payday, and aiming to get things done with a minimum of fuss or casualties. Emmanuel is an enjoyable screen presence, and she does well enough in her main role here, although it's hard to view her as a strong leader when the cracks in the team start to show. Stuart Martin is the mean and moody one, abd both Guz Khan and Ruby O. Fee are there to be placed in difficult positions as things become more strained. Jonathan Cohen is the determined cop who is always just one step behind, as expected, and there is an end scene that presents the expected cameos reminding everyone of where these events have been leading.

Aside from his acting onscreen, Schweighöfer also deserves some credit for his direction. This isn't his first feature, but all of his previous films have been co-directed with Torsten Künstler, which makes this his first solo outing. I'm sure he was given a lot of support and guidance by those who wanted to keep this in line with Zack Snyder's movie (and that support no doubt includes Snyder himself potentially offering some pointers), but Schweighöfer manages to deliver something that feels in line with the previous film in this series without ever being slavishly devoted to it. It's a character piece, it's a comedic crime film, it's a fun adventure. It's not a film that needs to keep reminding you of every detail and overcooked style of what preceded it.

Absolutely disposable stuff, admittedly, but I certainly enjoyed it enough while it was on. And I'd certainly be more keen to watch another film about this character than I would to watch another zombie-filled Snyder movie at this point.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Bubble (2022)

If you wanted to be particularly cruel about The Bubble, a star-studded and overlong comedy from Judd Apatow, who simply cannot make a film under 2 hours nowadays, and has clearly been having a lot more fun than most viewers over the past 5-10 years (although I did really enjoy The King Of Staten Island), then you could quite easily say that it feels like the best way to deliver a huge dollop of nepotism. This is underscored by the moment in which the movie turns into one extensive, elaborately-choreographed, TikTok video for a character, Krystal Kris, played by Iris "daughter of Judd" Apatow. I don't want to be particularly cruel about it, but I don't want to be particularly nice about it either.

Because The Bubble is bloody awful. It's largely unfunny, feels very smug for a lot of the runtime, and doesn't give you any characters to really care about. And the saddest thing about it is the fact that it wastes a great cast, all of whom seem game to make fun of themselves, and all of whom are then given the most careful handling, as if they are too fragile to handle some actual digs and humour.

The plot is simple. A group of actors are set up in a large hotel to film the latest instalment of an ongoing blockbuster franchise, Cliff Beasts 6. Each star has their own set of issues, but most of those issues are either underdeveloped or just not that great, comedically. Oh, and there's ongoing social distancing in place, quarantine rules, and tests for COVID.

Co-written by Apatow and Pam Brady, it's really hard to view this as anything more than a vanity project that goes for some easy options at a time when film-making has become even more challenging than usual (BECAUSE of the kinds of measures shown onscreen). This feels like a film that was hastily written around what was viewed as a winning central concept, clearly sold to the stars as something better than it ended up being. .

The cast are often trying their best, and the familiar faces are people I have enjoyed in many other movies. Karen Gillan, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Armisen, Peter Serafinowicz, and Kate McKinnon are highlights for me, while Harry Trevaldwyn, who I haven't seen before, was an absolute scene-stealer. There are a couple of fun cameos from John Cena and James McAvoy, but a less fun cameo from Beck, and everyone else varies between the poor (Pedro Pascal just isn't as good with the comedy, sorry) to the perfectly . . . okay. Leslie Mann and Iris Apatow aren't necessarily bad in their roles, but their casting feels like an excuse to make this a fun time for the family, rather than the best time possible for the viewing audience.

There's great stuff to be mined from this kind of scenario, from the actors feeling privileged enough that they don't think they should need to adhere to social distancing rules to the lengths a studio will go to in order to get more content out there after such a lean spell, but this doesn't succeed. Part of the problem, perhaps, is making the film being made such an obviously stupid one (seriously, it's maybe less substantial than Monster Trucks), but I think the biggest problem is Apatow, someone who continues to move further and further away from any place where he can be self-critical and disciplined. 

It gets one point for every time I laughed.

3/10

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