Spirited: L'esprit de Noël

Not perfect but highly entertaining - I could watch Ryan and Will banter all day. Background dancers were amazing and the singing from the leads was decent, particularly Octavia and Ryan. Will struggled with the singing the most and had the most solos but it was easy to give him a pass because he embraces his character so well. The singing is still less annoying than the live singing in Cats. This doesn't have the memorable music of The Greatest Showman but the first big number will stick in your head. Definitely a feel good Christmas movie with an original take on the classic story.

Music C+ Dancing A+ Sets A+ Story B+

I was a little skeptical of it being a musical, but I'm going to say after watching "Spirited" (and I thought that required watching it with spirits, so in full disclosure, I obliged), Will Ferrell is the king of Christmas movies. I dare say I wouldn't need the alcohol to enjoy it, the best thing about the movie is that it knows what it is and actively makes fun of it. Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds are both very charismatic and have the ability to carry a movie on its own, and together their magic is additive. And while I expected this to simply be a retelling of "A Christmas Carol", it's actually much more, more of an extension of the story. Is it perfect or without flaws? Of course not, it could have been half an hour shorter, easily, as most movies these days. But it's an enjoyable watch.

There isn't much deep things to say about this movie. It's a new spin on The Christmas Carol, it's a comedy musical and it's incredibly enjoyable.

In my opinion it starts a bit boring but then it really picked up when the story actually started to happen. It brings something original to the iconic Christmas Carol, it's funny and the songs are catchy and fun.

If you're looking to watch something Christmasy and you like musicals this is a must watch. Absolute delight for a family, even though I'm single and I watched it alone in my couch while eating crisps lol.

My only negative opinion is that the humour can be a bit cringy sometimes but that's okay, it made me laugh too! 8/10, I'd definitely recommend. Well maybe not if you don't like musicals and people bursting into songs or Christmas.

The script was actually a clever take on the Scrooge story, and Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell both did a good job. Sunita Mani was probably the best supporting character (very funny). However, the musical numbers were really difficult to watch. Something about the music and lyrics was really off. In parts where they tried to sound sincere, it sounded corny; in parts where they tried to sound funny, it wasn't working. At just over 2 hours, it felt like an eternity. This shouldn't have been a musical. It would have worked better as a comedy. I recommend you skip it. Or just re-watch any of the great Christmas comedies already out there.

First things first-it's Will Ferrel and Ryan Reynolds. Why are so many self-proclaimed movie experts (and Ferrel and zReynolds "super fans") expecting an Oscar-winning movie?! The script was uneven, the singing in many cases not great, the songs were cheesy, and-shockingly-the plot was predictable. Jeez...the original story is going on 200 years old. What so many seem to forget is that the story is about redemption and they did a great job making a campy, happy, silly version. It is fun. I'm very glad I watched it. Time well spent for a classic theme, and I'll probably tech it again this week. And yes, Octavia Spencer is awesome.