Christmas in Wonderland

I am fully aware of the mortifying reviews most viewers have given this movie. I'm here to tell you that I found it fabulous and endearing. The themes of family and Christmas and magic are abundant, and it's an enjoyable film the whole clan can enjoy. The acting... could have been better. Patrick Swayze has definitely given better performances before, but he's such a sweet father that I managed to overlook the extreme cheesiness. Cameron Bright was a bit dull, but in all fairness, he was cast as the stereotypical "big brother who misses his life back in LA and can't stand his siblings," and I believe he played the part correctly. I have my own older brother, and he sounds just like that: a bored teenager. What more do you people expect? I found the constant switching between the actresses playing Mary a bit nauseating. Can we PLEASE pick ONE twin for the part and leave it at that? They're not Mary-Kate and Ashley; they don't look completely identical. Chris Kattan was hilarious, as always, as was Tim Curry. All in all, it was a delightful, bright comedy that teaches an important lesson about family. (For the sake of this review I won't comment on the horrid CGI North Pole fiasco. Let's just put that out of our minds, shall we? :)

I read a lot of the reviews on this movie and to be honest it does have some really bad acting. Unrealistic situations. and predictable lines.

I liked seeing the film filmed in Canada. What I didn't like was their portrayal of Canadians and idiots. Tho the chief was a bumbling he did act well.But it still portrayed them as not being very smart. It was a family movie and is clean with no bad language.

I liked seeing the attractions at the mall shown in the movie. To bad that some of the actors in the movie couldn't bring the level of the movie up from a b movie. Family movie. Good to watch with younger kids. not really an Adult movie.

I had not heard about the 2006 movie "Christmas In Wonderland" prior to sitting down and watching it here in 2024, as part of my December month of binging Christmas movies. And yeah, I thought that this was an actual Christmas movie.

But I have to say that I found the storyline to be somewhat like "Home Alone" in a way, except it took place in a mall. Just because the movie's narrative was set during the Christmas time, doesn't mean that it was a Christmas movie. So I was a bit disappointed with the fact that this wasn't an actual Christmas movie. That being said, then don't get me wrong, because it wasn't as if "Christmas In Wonderland" was a bad movie, not at all. It just wasn't what I was expecting. Writers Wanda Birdsong Shope, James Orr and Jim Cruickshank put together a fair enough script and storyline.

The acting performances in the movie were good, and there were some familiar faces on the cast list, with the likes of Patrick Swayze, Tim Curry, Chris Kattan and Cameron Bright.

Watchable, for sure, just don't expect this to be a traditional sappy Christmas movie. I am sure that if you enjoyed the "Home Alone" movie, then you might actually also enjoy this movie.

My rating of director James Orr's 2006 movie "Christmas In Wonderland" lands on a five out of ten stars.

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY REVIEW ONE FILM. THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE ABOUT THESE FILMS.

IN THIS FILM Three kids and their Dad move from L.A to Edmonton. When they go shopping at West Edmonton Mall they find counterfeit cash. They inadvertently help catch the crooks, and later make a discovery about Santa.

The film is safe for small children but they will even be bored. The cast of familiar faces do their best but the material just isn't there.

The screenplay had a nice gem of an idea but it needed a little more work. Had the screenplay been better the film could of been great.

Usual daft extreme ratings here. As with most films, it is not a 1/10 or 2/10 film, nor is it a 9 or 10/10 film.

It is as someone else here described, reasonable Christmas fodder. I did not find it any worse than Home Alone 2.

It is essentially a children's film and they should enjoy it, it had a few laughs, was interesting, easy to follow, a couple of good characters, played well by Curry and Electra. It was also good to get such a detailed showing of the Mall.

For adults it is far too much of a giant cliché though. The two boys, as a lot of these films do, have the worst hair cuts imaginable, or lack of cut.The young girl, could be the young girl in about 100 films and as in any Christmas film, it is Christmas Eve and they still have not put the tree up.

There are a couple of really peculiar moments which seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever. When Patrick Swayze is buying the underwear for his wife, the whole scene and in particular the lady serving him was completely nonsensical and the whole scene should have been removed. You also had the oldest boy falling for a girl who came from the same city, for the same reasons, to the same new city and had the same unusual name as his other girlfriend for reasons unknown and which went nowhere.

All in all though, it is a decent watch. A little better than the 4.9 rating and will entertain you more than many daytime Christmas films.

Most of all, it was wonderful to see the marvellous Patrick Swayze in one of his last roles, as endearing as ever.