8-Bit Christmas

Thank God it wasn't what I thought it would be: a Jingle All the Way reboot.

Actually, for about the first two-thirds of this, I saw basically a remake of A Christmas Story. Almost beat-by-beat. But, I didn't mind it like I normally would. They made it their own and more importantly, I was laughing out loud quite frequently.

Normally, this is where I'd give you the synopsis, but I just did. This is a retelling of 1983's A Christmas Story and you'll have to replace the sought out Red Ryder BB gun with the sacred OG Nintendo. Also, it's about 40 years after when A Christmas Story was set and narrated about 40 years later, present day.

Again, I didn't mind this version of the story and luckily, they made the last third completely original and 100% touching. I can really see this becoming a classic on its own. It's sweet, funny, nostalgic - WITHOUT it being forced down our throats and, in the end, lessons will be learned.

Highly recommended. This was my first Christmas movie of the 2021 Christmas season and I'm happy it was.

***

Final Thoughts: Oh, boy. I can RELATE. I wanted a Nintendo, or heck ANY game system when I was their age. In fact, *I* WAS their age when this movie takes place. I didn't get one, but I did make a lot of friends who had all the systems. So, compromise.

I suppose this movie was intended to pull the nostalgic heartstrings of Gen Y while they watch it with their kids, but it missed the mark as either a movie about gaming or the 80's. I truly expected this film to be saturated in 80's culture and it was something of a let down.

My husband first noticed that the film had opened with a weird, wishy washy muted colour palette, so he was expecting it to jump into the rad day-glo colours of the 80's once the flashback ensued, but it didn't. There was hardly any vibrancy to this film. Set design was sort of 80's, sort of not, costumery was generic minus a pair of old school gloves and boots. The 80's music selection was comprised of maybe four songs that didn't really fit, and Animation's "Obsession" is played into the ground for comedic effect (it was Fashion Television's theme here in Canada, but anywhere else it's pretty much about sex, kinda weird to play it for a kid wearing boots lol). That's not even getting around to the NES portion of the film, which equally disappoints. It's remastered graphics and fake games were a huge let down!

I grew up on a myriad of consoles so I was drawn to the film for the gaming aspect and what you get is not what we grew up on. It's kind of a slap in the face, really, because they baited us with the promise of 80's gaming culture and what we got could've honestly been any hot toy from any previous decade.

Does the film borrow elements/formula from A Christmas Story? Yes. Do I care? Hardly because I find this more digestible than that movie. It's a cute kids Christmas movie with a moving conclusion. But it should've been way funnier, had the atmosphere of Christmas in the 80's, and actually related to the NES and what it was to be a child gamer in the 80's.

Every year I watch Home Alone 1 and 2, Jingle All The Way, Die Hard, A Christmas Story and more. 8 bit Christmas has now been added to the list. This movie speaks volumes to the generation of the 80s. Its fun, funny, entertaining, a great story, has a lesson more kids need to learn today, and has heart. Go watch it on HBO Max right now. You won't regret it.

It's rare nowadays to have a Christmas film not afraid to be sentimental, as dumb critics and cynics tend to criticize films for following Christmas sentiment. I enjoyed the film and was happy it borrowed from A Christmas Story, not ripped it off.

I love the iconic Christmas movies like Home Alone, Elf, the Santa Clause, and even National Lampoon's Christmas vacation. However, this Christmas, I started to get a little tired of seeing the same movies over the last 10-20 years. The problem was, there hasn't been a recent Christmas movie of any quality in the last decade....until now. The movie feels a lot like a current "Christmas Story", but instead of the Red Rider, the lead tells the story of his childhood pursuit of a Nintendo. High quality child actors mixed with a classic, yet current feel. It was cute and wish they would put more out like it.