When Kate and Teddy Pierce decide to try to catch Santa on camera one Christmas Eve they set everything up and plan an all nighter, but the adventure it takes them on is beyond any dream possible!
This is the Christmas film we have all been waiting for, not just as a Netflix original but a Santa Claus film and a lovely Christmas film. It has been a long time since I have watched a film about Santa that has some lovely messages as well as an amazing performance!
Kate and Teddy are both struggling after the death of their father who totally loved Christmas, to start the film off we are shown previous years at Christmas and the traditions the family all had together. Leading up to 2018 and how this year is just not going to be the same. Teddy has become withdrawn and in with a bad crowd not making good choices at all. This special Christmas Eve night when he must spend it with his younger sister Kate as their mother was working. He is about to recapture the magic and get his life back on track.
They set up many small traps and have the camera ready to go to capture Santa, but as they end up following him to his sleigh they are about to become very involved this Christmas Eve as everything goes wrong they must help Santa save Christmas and the Christmas Spirit. He ends up in prison and cannot find anyone willing to help as they don't want to believe he is the real Santa. This creates some rather amusing moments, especially when he knows everyone's name and what they asked for each and every Christmas.
The film really does create a very magical atmosphere and at times it is visually stunning. The way they show the sleigh with the reindeer and then the small glimpse into the North Pole. All very special and lovely to watch, it really helps to improve the feel to the film.
The standout though is easily Kurt Russell as Santa Claus he really is something else and I think I might just have a new film favourite. Everything about his version is perfect in this film, he has some great one liners and takes away some of the traditional things when we think of Santa. Asking if he really is as fat as he looks on all the posters around everywhere. Let's not forget the incredible rocking out in the prison! That part really was just even more amazing, overall though he is just outstanding as old Saint Nick!
Darby Camp was impressive as Kate and showed a very good performance for such a young actor. Working very well with Judah Lewis as Teddy, they managed to create such a believable sibling relationship and it was nice to see the development as they became closer again.
It's actually really good to watch a film that has been promoted a lot, plenty of advertisement on Netflix and not be disappointed with the end product. I loved everything about this film and think it will be a very big hit in the build up towards Christmas, such a good idea to have it premiere on Thanksgiving for the US! I demand that everyone watches this before Christmas, or at the very least save it for Christmas Eve you will not be disappointed!