Runtime: 106 minutes
Directed by: Gil Kenan
Starring: Henry Lawfull along with familiar names like Maggie Smith, Jim Broadment, Sally Hawkins and... Kristin Wiig?!
From: A few different European entities, although I watched it on Netflix last night
This review is brought to you by Coke and... Jim Beam! Note that this was typed on OpenOffice late last night; I am not day drinking like I am some sort of lush. Right now I am in Kansas until this upcoming Wednesday, hanging out with some family. It is nice to see them again although three young boys in one house: I would be a terrible parent of one young child, let alone three that love to bicker & are full of energy. Anyhow, after they went to bed I was offered some alcohol, which included a mixed drink. I know that with some properties exclusive to Netflix in at least the United States-if not the world-hard liquor is seemingly required to survive to the end, but the booze came after this was watched-which was not a movie I picked out as it was meant for adults and children present. Ironically I was the one who paid attention to it the most although the kids weren't disinterested as they asked me about some plot points-and what a plot it is, perhaps too complex for the little tykes if they were paying attention.
Why did it seem familiar to see an older person telling a fantasy tale to a kid who sometimes interrupted and the adult responded back w/ sarcasm... why of course, it is The Princess Bride, something I haven't seen in eons but no doubt is superior to this. Heck, this even has a rodent, although it is not of unusual size. The plot as is: Maggie Smith is the older person who tells a fairy tale to three children and it's... an origin story! That is what we need more of in modern times—and it is the origin story of Kris Kringle, who was some kid in the Finnish woods that went out to look for his father (part of a group tasked with looking for an elf, because reasons) as his aunt babysitting him was a comically evil human being so he had to run away... and from there we not only get an elf village, fairies, and a troll, but poor Sally Hawkins had to utter some preposterous as the lead heel elf. It's all goofy and if I was a kid my opinion would surely be different but as an adult who had to see it while there was a cacophony of noise around me-thank goodness the captions were on.
I know there are far worse things that could have been streamed on Netflix last night that was designed for all ages. Even if there are plenty that seemed to like this wackiness more than I do, I can't go above “eh” with my opinion. There are “modern” references which were definitely designed to make the grown-ups laugh but “sigh” was my reaction. Kristin Wiig as the awful aunt was a surprise as otherwise this was full of British actors, from Smith and Jim Broadbent to Toby Jones and Stephen Merchant providing a voice. The biggest realization I have after watching this: I've seen Hawkins as an evil elf and appear in two Godzilla films yet not only have I not watched her early indie darling pictures, I haven't even viewed The Shape of Water yet. Shame on me.
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