Reyes contra Santa

The Three Wise Men (Karra Elejalde, Janick, David Verdaguer), are frankly fed up with Santa Claus (Andrés Almeida) stealing the spotlight from them, so they have decided to confront each other without knowing that this war will awaken a much more dangerous enemy, the nasty Krampus (David Verdaguer repeating role), which has been inactive for centuries, but he shows up in search for vengeance. Then, a kidnapping takes place and the magical world led by an organization named C. H. U. S. M. A., short for "Comité de Hermandades Universales de Seres Mágicos y Asombrosos" (English for "Committee of Universal Brotherhood of Magical and Amazing Beings") meets to take action.

An endearing, gentle and pleasant film, performed by comedy heavyweights such as Karra Elejalde and David Verdaguer, together with the unknown Janick, giving off quite a bit of sympathy, thus they create a cheerful trio providing enough chemistry between them. A fun, funny and cheerful film full of silly sketches, noisy action, hilarious incidents, irony and lots of humor. The director shows a special and attractive touch by mixing various Christmas myths, forming a peculiar medley of Christmas mythological beings from many countries and regions, such as: Befana from Italy; Ded Moroz and his granddaughter Snegurochka from Russia; Dun Che Lao from China; Hoteiosho from Japan; and Gnome Tomte and Goat Yule from Sweden; furthermore: Caga Tió from Catalonia, Olentzero from Basque Country and Anguleru from Asturias. The premise is the following: What if the Three Wise Men confront Santa Claus and they could not attend their Christmas Eve appointment with the children of the World? The director shows a special touch for knowing how to find the point in different types of comedy, in different ways of understanding the same genre, uniting fantasy, action with kidnapping included and even a little family drama. Directed in an irregular but professional way by comedy specialist Paco Caballero, the film thus becomes a clear candidate for success for its screening at Christmas, by intelligently mixing all those familiar ingredients and offering what it initially proposes. Something that is always appreciated, with a relatively careful production, in addition, which convinces in the visual section with surprising special effects.

¨Kings vs. Santa¨ follows the trail of those films starring Tim Allen, such as: ¨Santa Claus!¨ (1994), ¨Santa Claus 2¨ (2002), and even partially copies an old Spanish film: ¨Mensajeros de la paz¨ (1957) by José María Elorrieta with the three Wise Men played by Rafael Luis Calvo, Félix Dafauce, and Antonio Almorós wandering the streets of period Madrid and trying to collect presents for the little ones. And don't forget the family comedy ¨La Navidad en sus manos¨ (2023) by Joaquín Mazón in which Santiago Segura plays Santa Claus and Ernesto Sevilla his unlikely substitute, made in the same style and which seemed to compete that same year with the one that is currently being criticized.

The film was pleasantly and sympathetically directed by Paco Caballero, who had already made films of a similar genre. This director is a good craftsman who has worked a lot for television, directing series such as: ¨Invisible, Citas, Sin huellas, Vecino, Bienvenido a la familia¨ and occasionally in the cinema, in the following films: ¨Amor de madre, Donde caben dos and this Reyes contra Santa¨. Rating: 6/10. An acceptable and passable Christmas movie that will please children and not very demanding adults. Resulting to be a tender and tangled film clearly aimed at the family.