What’s a better way to deal with the cold and the snow than to curl up in front of the T.V. with a hot chocolate to watch a good movie with family or friends? Lucky for us it’s that time of year when Netflix releases an avalanche of new Christmas movies that no one asked for. They all look like they escaped from the LifeTime or Hallmark channel, and they all seem to be in the same universe because somehow Netflix sneaks in their characters watching a different Netflix Christmas Movie into each movie and they all are as cheesy as hell. There is no way I have listed below all the Christmas movies on Netflix because I don’t hate myself that much. I’m also only going to be focusing on Netflix Originals, otherwise it would just be me gushing over Love Actually. I burnt out my eyes watching every moment of these movies, so buckle in as I prep you to watch these yourself.
Holiday In The Wild
Don’t ask me about the plot in this movie, there was none. However, there was two hours of B-roll footage of elephants. This movie has elephants and only elephants. The time jumps in this movie happen so often that the two characters that are supposed to be falling in love have no chemistry and until the end. I completely forgot this was supposed to be a Christmas movie. Come for the elephants, stay for the elephants. My roommate and I did have to google how fast an elephant grows because after a year of movie time the baby elephant didn’t grow at all, which apparently is accurate. It can take at least nine years until elephants reach the size in my head elephants should be and aren’t fully mature until 25. Fun Fact. Only watch this movie if you’re watching it with someone.
A Christmas Prince
Yes there’s a sequel A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding. And, yes, I watched that too. And I’ll probably watch the third movie in this series as well. Now, the first movie is a cinematic masterpiece. It was one of the first Netflix Original Christmas movies, so they spent a bit more money on the script. The prince is absolutely boring, but the romantic chemistry between the two main characters is way better than most of the Netflix movies, which speaks more to the script than anything. By the second movie the prince was so boring I started rooting for the main girl and the villain to get together just because they had more chemistry and he had an actual personality, but I have to say the first movie was still a good time. This movie very much captures the tone and feel of a Hallmark movie, and I appreciate it for that.
The Princess Switch
Netflix went off of the hype of their Christmas Prince movie and made this gem. It’s a Prince And The Pauper plot, where a princess and baker switch places. By the end of the movie neither couple has any chemistry. Most of that has to do with pacing and not giving the appropriate amount of time to either couple to give an excuse of why they would be together. The one daughter in the movie is probably the best person in there.
Klaus
This is my favorite and probably the best in terms of story and character that Netflix has in their arsenal of Christmas Movies. The animation in this movie is amazing and the characters have more life and motive in them than any of the live action movies. There were times it made me want to cry and laugh all at the same time. The story telling is amazing and has a clear path. It’s a story about how Santa Claus came about, but in a way that I’ve never seen before and with so much heart that I think everyone should ditch any other Netflix Movie and just watch this one. 10/10 you don’t need to know anything else about it before watching except it has heart. I went in blind and I’m glad I did.
The Knight Before Christmas
Oh boy, I’m so glad I watched this with my roommate. There were about five minutes of scenes that were one after another that I don’t think had anyone actually supervising the script. My roommate and I were laughing so hard at the nonsense that happened that we had to rewind to actually catch anything that was said. This was probably the funniest one in the Christmas Netflix cinematic universe. I have to say the two main characters do have chemistry and its well paced, they just gave up on logic. The main character is too trustworthy of the knight, the knight learns everything he needs to know about the modern age by binging Netflix, and about twenty other random things that you could say makes sense script wise, but at the same time don’t. My roommate says The Christmas Switch was better; I personally, because of the laugh, think this one is better. I would definitely say its a movie you need to watch with others.
Let It Snow
Once I found out that this movie is based on a John Green book it all made sense. All the actors tried their best to act with the script they had, but man was it hard. They all come out wooden and annoying for they work under the laws of John Green teenagers. The concept of the diner that’s called “Waffle Town” having its W out to make ‘affle Town’ I think is genius, but it’s sadly wasted on characters who can’t all be fleshed out. I blame this on the fact that the story follows so many characters. And as a sucker of Love Actually, I have to say I usually don’t like other movies who do it. They tend to stretch themselves thin and this movie was bound and determined to give everyone love at the end––and not just platonic love, which defeated some of the plot lines completely. Overall it was an okay time, would have been better without the musical number, but if you’re a John Green fan then this will fully be up your alley.
All of these movies are cheesy fun. I will never make fun of someone who loves pure fun movies. Movies are supposed to be entertaining and they’re meant to bring people together. So grab a friend for these ones and strap in for some unapologetic fun. If you want something that paid their script writers a bit more (Minus Klaus in this list. Klaus has done nothing bad in its entire life) try some movies like Love Actually, The Holiday, Collateral Beauty, Elf or Arthur’s Christmas. But really any movie can be a Christmas Holiday movie as long as you grab a friend and watch it every year. So make a tradition and have some fun.