Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice

Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice (2011)

*** (out of 4)

Nice sequel has elf Wayne being sent on another adventure as a "naughty" child has gotten hold of a secret weapon that she can use to hack into the naughty/nice list that Santa uses. Wayne, with his brother, must go to the house and try to recover the item but soon they start to realize why the girl is acting the way she is. While this film isn't nearly as effective as the 2009 film, it at least has a few charming ideas that make it worth viewing. Once again I enjoyed the changes they made to the classic stories of Santa Claus. This time out we're introduced to the coal workers who of course go to the bad kids homes and inspect for clues that the kids were bad. Once they've determined who was bad they simply leave them coal. I thought this was a nice touch as was one sequence where the elves discover why the girl is acting up. Being a Christmas story about being good and bad, there's certainly messages to young kids on why they should be good. The animation is one again very good and especially one very colorful sequence where Wayne and his brother are going up the side of a building with some beautiful lights on it. The comedy is certainly here, although it does fall well short of the original film. Fans of that film will still want to check this sequel out.