Ralphie is now all grown up and must deal with Christmas and all that comes with it…as a dad.
Released: 2022-11-17
Runtime: 120 minutes
Genre: Comedy, Family
Stars: Peter Billingsley, Erinn Hayes, Zack Ward, Julie Hagerty, Mark Arnold, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Julianna Layne, Ian Petrella, River Drosche, J.R. Esposito, Chris Jarman, Sam Parks, Henry Miller, Ian Porter, Owen Davis, Derek Morse, Davis Murphy
Director: Clay Kaytis
Comments
chadwick-86955 - 25 December 2023 Disappointing I saw this movie with my wife immediately after the original. The comparison is startlingly bad.
The original was amazing in its writing and acting. All actors, adults and kids, were believable and precious.
For me, this sequel was a poor attempt to make money after a phenomenal success by having Billingsley as the main character.
It would be impossible for a sequel to equal the perfect Christmas movie. The innocence/excellence of the original, with its perfect plot/acting/narration, that summed up the 50s beautifully ... with this depressing remake.
I am sure people might watch this film because of dear Ralphie.
This remake took on a major objective, and failed miserably. The movie was not entertaining in the least, even discounting any comparison.
JayWolfgramm - 13 December 2023 Still the Best Christmas Story Sequel I get what they're going for in this film. The premise is, Ralphie trying to make the perfect Christmas for his kids and live up to his father's high standards of Christmas excellence. This concept could work really well for a sequel to a beloved Christmas sequel 29 years after the fact. The Christmas stories work best when they are dealing with small, simple relatable things. But just because the themes are good, does not make the film itself good.
Where the film falters is in the execution. There will be joke set ups that get bundled up in the punchline. Too much of the story relies on the nostalgia of the original film. The whole thing feels like a straight to DVD bargain bin sequel.
thepeculiarpalette - 13 January 2023 I'm so glad someone did it. I rate this a 9 compared to all other Christmas movies that I've seen. I've watched a ton of them and kind of hate myself a little each time I do because they are so cheesy and sappy. This is the movie I needed to feel better about myself. Two sisters, one super upbeat who loves Christmas and the other grumpy and hates it. The upbeat one wishes she could be in a perfect Christmas movie and her wish comes true, and the grumpy one is forced to come along too. The upbeat one is in heaven from all of the perfectness and sweetness that is typical of a Hallmark type Christmas movie and the grumpy one is in hell because it's nauseating (this is the one I relate to). The sap and cheese is so over the top, like Hallmark on steroids. I'm guessing that's what they were going for. It's hilarious! Finally, something different than all the formulated ones where you can figure out how the movie is going to end in the first 5 minutes. I highly recommend if you can handle spoofing on your beloved typical Christmas movie.
hannahb-56182 - 30 December 2022 Predictable and Pitiful Wow, I mean a lot of recently remade or sequel-ed movies have not been great, let's be honest. Hocus Pocus I'm looking at you. But, I personally think this one is the worst, at least of the ones I've seen.
I feel like the sake of this movie was literally just to get the original cast together regardless of how well the plot/movie actually was.
I think the biggest problem I had with it was having a bunch of older adults acting like kids, and making this feel incredibly PG. And now, I know the first movie is for families, I understand. But, the first movie centers around actual children doing children things. Whereas this was adults doing those same children things, and it was just weird.
I like the idea of a bunch of childhood friends getting together and recreating their youth, but to an extent.
I wish these secondary movies/shows would try to be original. That's what made the first ones SO GREAT, because they weren't like anything else. Having them reuse plotlines is boring. Having them reuse taglines is funny the first time, but not any time after that. Come up with something better. That's all I ask.
dreyerkristen - 26 December 2022 Better than anticipated This is a fantastic movie in and of itself, but it's also a fantastic sequel. There were a bunch of parallels between this movie and the classic that we all know and love, and as someone who watches 'A christmas story' every single year on Christmas Day, I'll have to add this right along with it. It truly is a new classic. I adore what they have done with the storyline. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it was a beautiful sequel. I also love all of the original cast members that they brought back to really make this film contain the same energy as the first one. I adored every minute of it. The attention to detail was also very impressive. It is extremely rewatchable and I will be watching it along with the original next Christmas season and for all of the Christmas seasons from here on out.
jenaycarter - 25 December 2022 Beautiful Movie For The New Gen! Before I begin I just wanna say that this film does a splendid job honoring the "Mr. Daren McGavin" aka "The Old Man". I've always watched A Christmas Story every year on Christmas Eve, there was just no missing it! AMC always played it on loop for those who couldn't wait til Christmas Day! Or for those who dared to stay up to see Santa himself. But after a good ten times I'd eventually fall asleep. Good times!
Now that I'm older and Peter Billingsley himself is back. It brings me great joy to see what new things the mew film would bring! And I am very pleased with what I've watched. I was so happy to see Flick and Schwartz still doing their honorable triple dog dares and more! Sad to see however the motherly roll not reprised by Melinda Dillon herself. I feel as though she missed out on the reunion.
In conclusion the film was great I will be rewatching this film every Christmas Eve just the same as the original.
dnagchampa - 24 December 2022 Kind of a Miss I was really looking forward to this with hopes that that it would be the next Christmas classic, but it wasn't. The foundation of the story is that the "Old Man" dies right before Christmas and the family reunites over his death and tries to have a happy Christmas. It's weird that they picked that reason. It's a pretty sad beginning and to then to transition to a celebration was awkward. The sadness or mourning is inconsistent and seems forced to support of the story. There were some funny moments between the reunited cast, but it wasn't a solid movie like Elf or the first Christmas Story. It did try but fell a bit short.
infinitetyler - 23 December 2022 Captured the Essence of the Original without being too Pandering There have been a lot of franchise reboots and remakes lately; so many that there should be a separate sub-genre of film dedicated just for them.
What I look for in a reboot at this point is something which respects the source material and adds onto it without resorting to tearing anything down built by the previous creators.
This story is told from the perspective of an adult Ralphie, which allowed the writers to reinterpret the imaginative cutaways that defined the first movie, but it also means that they can't pass the perspective off onto the children for a future movie, which hopefully means they won't try to make another one of these. The first movie was beaten into me in my childhood, and this one managed to incorporate a lot of elements from the original and at the same time subvert my expectations- I would think, "Oh, they're going to ____, so it's going to be just like what happened in the last movie."... That only came true about half of the time.
Bottom line, I don't know how you make a nostalgia-reboot-film better, except by maybe not making one in the first place.
summerraincip - 18 December 2022 The best we could get Something to remember is that this will never be the original. However, it was funny, nostalgic and captured a similar essence of the original. My famy has been watching the original every year on Christmas for as long as I can remember. I had high expectations for this movie and I feel they were met. Of course there are corny bits but that's what Christmas movies are for. I really enjoyed seeing the original characters. And for someone who's lost a parent, it really hit me. I especially liked the flashbacks and the voice overs that give that feeling of the original. All in all, a solid sequel that I will continue to watch for Christmas's to come.
alycat369 - 13 December 2022 Heartwarming with a side of nostalgia I really did enjoy this movie--- mainly because how great it was to see a lot of the original cast. I missed Melinda Dillon, and though Julie Haggerty was okay, it wasn't the same. I loved seeing Randy (Ian Petrella -sp?). He was always my favorite. "I can't put my arms down!"
I didn't find this movie to be overly sweet, but at the end, I was moved. The Old Man story was really touching.
Another great part of this movie is that the music was the same... everything in this movie reminded me why the original movie is so amazing and is a yearly tradition in my home.
If you want to see Ralphie, Flick, Schwartz, and even Scut Farkus (his eyes were yellow!) it really is a nice trip down nostalgia lane.