Northpole

This Hallmark movie delves into fantasy more than most, and it comes off really well. A nicely entertaining movie with a good story and good actors.

In this story Santa and the North Pole community and toy factory are real. However things are going downhill a bit. In a theme that might have been borrowed from the movie "Elf" more joy is needed to power the Northern lights and revive the Christmas spirit.

Meanwhile in a small town a teacher and her young son want to help the town revive its own Christmas traditions, the tree lighting ceremony. She is a reporter, she suspects there is something amiss in the dealings between a wealthy man and the town's mayor.

One of Santa's elves "borrows" one of the reindeer and a small sled to travel to the town and ultimately help the boy and the town revive its own Christmas traditions.

A really nice Holiday movie, my wife and I enjoyed it at home streaming on Peacock.

I have seen almost every big Christmas movie and the marginally noteworthy ones, Northpole is dead center between the two. In the opening scene on my 60" HDTV, I'd have bet money this was actually a big budget Hollywood blockbuster. The view of "Northpole" was as colorful and bright as any Christmas movie I've ever seen, and that's high praise for a Hallmark Channel production. Mind you, I am not a fan of most Hallmark Christmas movies. They almost always feature Hollywood has-been's, one-hit-wonders who's 15 minutes passed long ago or "never-was's". They're abysmally formulaic, unimaginative and they always look like they had a budget of $12. Here is the entire script of 90% of all Hallmark Christmas movies; There is a jaded woman who's lost her faith in love, a single mom who meets an unassuming man with a heart of gold (like this guy would be single). He rekindles her faith by restoring something in the town, some building or Christmas tradition, or he finds a way to reach the woman's son who has emotional baggage, a disease or he's in a wheelchair...how'd I do? Northpole doesn't break any new ground, and the storyline fits my stereotype more than not. It stars Tiffani Thiessen (Saved by the Bell) and Bailee Madison (Once Upon a Time)who is just charming in everything she does, and a host of actors you've never seen before. This movie won't become an annual classic, but you won't likely change the channel either. Take it for what it's worth, a better-than-average made for TV holiday flick and Merry Christmas.

This film was not actually the sickly sweet, irritating thing I thought that it would be.

The magical/fantasy/mythological element was quite tame and thus made it easier for it to blend in with the real world side of things.

It's the same old story when it comes to the romance element, but the young lads adventures with Clementine the Elf help to move it forward.

As for the love interest, there is just something about Josh Hopkins. He's a little weathered now, but he still has a sparkle in his eyes that bodes mischief and sauciness.

The cast do a fair job making it easy to watch. I'm sure Robert Wagner got paid more than the rest of the entire cast for his cameo, but I liked his interpretation.

The moral of the story is actually quite relevant. There are so many people who have lost their way when it comes to the care of our fellow humans, animals and planet, myself included. I don't necessarily believe that our kind acts and belief in the season will power Father Christmas' sleigh or anything like that, but surely it can power the world to make it a better place, full of better people? Behaviour breeds behaviour, do unto others, Etc. Karma must surely come back around? Mine must be taking the long way, but I know it will get here one day.

7ish?

An oldish story told again, with a couple of little twists, but generally a very nice little film which is more about the Christmas spirit than loads of CAD trickery. Certainly worth a watch.

As a Christmas movie aficionado, I thought this one was fabulous. I loved the storyline, the drama and the actors. Some of the reviews are kind of harsh, but Hallmark is a FAMILY company - I wouldn't expect their movies to run so deep, include splatters... there are some really badly acted Christmas movies - great story lines, but nothing I would want to watch again or purchase. I would purchase this one. Northpole 2 was not as good as the first but I'm hoping for a 3rd.