With the holidays coming up in less than two weeks, shops and malls are already being decorated, people are decorating their houses/dorms, presents are being bought. And Christmas movies are being watched. With that in mind, Netflix has recently uploaded a bunch of new Christmas movies for the season and plans on uploading more. I will be reviewing three of these movies, rating them, saying what I liked about them, and what I disliked about them. Before you go on to reading this article, please note that these reviews are based on how I see the films, so take the recommendations with a grain of salt.
- Holidate: Starting off with the most popular Christmas film on Netflix in the year of 2020 is Holidate. This film was released on the Oct. 28, telling us the story of two strangers, Sloane, who is played by Emma Roberts and Jackson, who is played by Luke Bracey. The two strangers have an encounter with one another at the mall, where Jackson is holding up the return line, at a shop, and Sloane gets impatient with him. After a conversation, the two realize that they are dealing with the same issue, which is that they are fed up with dealing with the pressure coming from their friends and family for being single on the holidays. Therefore, they make a pact and decided that for every holiday including next year’s Christmas, they will be one another’s plus one.
- Rating: 7/10
Pros Of the film:
- A beautiful looking cast!
- Hilarious moments
- A perfect modern spin, on your very typical Christmas movie romcom.
Cons:
- A very expected ending.
- The beginning of the movie was very slow, especially in regard to Sloane and Jackson’s relationship, but then towards the end I felt that it was very rushed.
- The Princess Switch: Switched Again: As if the first princess switch wasn’t cheesy enough. There’s a sequel to it, which is The Princess Switch: Switched Again. In this sequel Duchess Margret’s life is turned upside down, where she is now in line to become queen, breaks up with her former Chicago boyfriend Kevin, and basically, she wishes to get her life back on track, the way that it was. With the help of her doppelgänger, they agree to switch lives once more, just for the sake of it. But of course, nothing goes perfectly right, especially with a jealous cousin in tow.
- Rating: 8/10
Pros:
- Vanessa Hudgens’ acting. in this film, Vanessa Hudgens not only plays two characters, but three characters as well. She is both the protagonist and an antagonist at the same time, and she executes this quite perfectly, if I do say so myself.
- The plot was very simple.
- Other than Princess Diaries, this is the second royalty film, where the female is the one in line to become queen, instead of it being a prince.
Cons:
- Like the first film, it’s very predictable. There isn’t much to the plot.
- Personally, since Kevin was Olivia’s father, I think there should have been more scenes with Kevin and Olivia, that is mainly because I’m a sucker for family moments.
- The final thing that pisses me off the most about this film, is why Stacy and Margret never question the fact of how much they look like one another, and try to figure out why they look so similar.
- Operation Christmas Drop: This story revolves around Erica (Kat Graham) who is sent by her boss to investigate and get details about an Air Force on the beachside in Guam, with hope of finding a reason to shut this Air Force down. Of course, while on her trip to Guam, she has an encounter with no other than an Air Force captain, Andrew Jantz (Alexander Ludwig). He takes upon himself to show Erica around the island and teach her what their mission really is all about.
- Rating: 10/10
Pros:
- Another movie with beautiful casting, especially for the protagonist roles.
- The chemistry between the two lovers, was found to be enjoyable.
- Unlike the other Christmas films mentioned above, where it focuses on the relationship aspect of the holidays, but actually the true reason behind the Christmas Holiday which is giving and helping the people in need. Also, the fact that this film, is based on a real mission, is always a plus.
- It shows the beauty of Guam, its people, and its culture.
Cons:
- It really does follow the aspect of any other Hallmark Christmas film, where the girl is too caught up in her job to see the beauty of life, and she needs a male protagonist to help her see it.
There you have it, here are the three new most popular Netflix Christmas films rated by no other than me. I would like to reiterate the fact that these opinions are solely my own, therefore, kindly take them with a grain of salt. I hope you guys have a happy holiday, spending it with the ones that you love and eating great food.