Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up

This is one of those movies that just did not need a sequel. And rarely do I not love a Lacey Hallmark Christmas movie. This was just beyond disappointing. Loved the first one and was so excited to watch this when I saw the previews for the season, but it just did not deliver. The Jolly Johnson's left me anything but jolly after watching. I've watched hundreds of Hallmark movies and realize they are not trying to be Oscar worthy, but this is barely watchable. I have seen worse, but not with this cast. It was just incredibly disappointing and painful to watch. They can't all be winners, but this is a big pass for me.

6.2 stars.

Take the original film and imagine it continued for another 2 hours and the logical continuation would in fact be "lit up". However, the first was already headed for a crash and burn and saved by the fact that it ended. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate the first one, I actually thought it had some redeeming qualities, but it ended on a high note, thus it was a decent standalone story. There was something about the originality and all the cool neighborhood competitions and the undermining and the HOA rules fiasco. Neighbors being frantic with decorating and games and the whole weirdness of it was interesting. Now take all of that originality and multiply it by ten, but instead of adding some variety and a new spin, take the original theme pound it into the ground, i.e. Beat on a dead horse for two more hours. The ending seems to lend itself to yet another sequel, dollars to doughnuts it won't happen. This film cannot rest upon its laurels sufficiently enough to survive the gestation and birthing of a third.

This one is not nearly as fun as the last one and has a much darker undertone of mob mentally being swayed by celebrity's. Yes it's a Christmas movie so it does have a happy ending, eventually.

I get that's the point. But it's a sharp contrast to the last one which was a lot more fun throughout and being part of a community.

Also when do the Johnsons sleep. They Do sooo much and get everywhere so quickly. I just don't get it.

This sequel is not the worst, but it's definitely not the best. And we'll worth a skip if you liked the first one.

It does get s lot more light hearted and fun, but not until about the last 20min or so.

I absolutely loved the original Haul Out the Holly. I watched it a zillion times last year, and was really looking forward to seeing this sequel. However, they completely changed the tone this time. The original was light and funny, any tension was minor, and you knew everything would be fine. This one introduced major tension right away with the very unpleasant new neighbors. I gave it about half an hour, couldn't find anything to like about it (other than the stellar performances from last year's cast), and then just fast-forwarded to the end, which was fine. They really missed the boat on this sequel.

I wasn't a huge fan of the allegedly-funny Haul out the Holly in 2022, but thought I would give this second one a go nonetheless, looking for something that might change my mind, as the cast - led by the Queen of Christmas Lacey Chabert, and the always-reliable Wes Brown - is very good.

Alas...

Sadly, the cast is wasted.

The movie seemed like it went for 3 hours, and not in a good way.

I just didn't find this funny. The parts where I assume I was meant to laugh were just uncomfortable.

Watching the ultra-competitive new neighbours who arrive on Evergreen Lane (which is actually a cul-de-sac) was akin to running my nails up and down a blackboard. The characters were the complete opposite of what Christmas is supposed to be about. Their "jokes" were not funny. There were few in this film that were.

Let's hope there is no third movie. I'd prefer to see Chabert and Brown together in a more meaningful Christmas film.