It’s the 1980’s in cold, windy Chicago–and Christmas is just around the corner. Ten-year-old Jake Doyle (Winslow Fegley) and his friends are jealous of the town jerk, Timmy Keane (Chandler Dean), because he has the latest, greatest video game system–the Nintendo. 8-Bit Christmas is the story of Jake as he desperately attempts to commandeer said video game system. They are difficult to come by, but Jake will stop at nothing to get what he wants more than anything.
It’s that time of year (well, it was when I watched this), and new Christmas films are popping up all over the place, hoping to compete with greats such as The Santa Clause and Elf. However, as we all know, the likelihood of modern films competing with those classics are slim, and while some measure up to those aforementioned films, the majority of modern Christmas films fall through the cracks; 8-Bit Christmas is one of those films that will eventually be forgotten, because, regardless of how hard the minds behind this film tried, it falls short of just about everyone’s expectations.
Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) is known for his over-dramatic need for a Red Ryder BB Gun, and a full-grown version of the character narrates the story of his pubescent self struggling through the process of obtaining one. 8-Bit Christmas, for all intents and purposes, is an attempted modern retelling of the classic A Christmas Story...with a twist. The twist? It fails to entertain. Scene after scene viewers are pulled through a story so similar to the 1983 classic, and I felt cheated by Director Michael Dowse, Writer Kevin Jakubowski, and the rest of the cast and crew. The redundancy of nearly the entirety of 8-Bit Christmas is frustrating and effectively unentertaining.
The acting from the young, wet-behind-the-ears actors leaves a lot to be desired as well. That’s a risk that always exists when casting young individuals to lead a film, and 8-Bit Christmas suffers as a result of that cast. Am I being a tad tough on the young actors? Potentially; but the fact of the matter is that they don’t live up to the expectations set by Hollywood and the plethora of other immensely talented child actors. This failure occurs, in part, due to the fact that the intention of the writing appears to be cheesy–and while the film is certainly cheesy, emotion, an essential aspect of any film, is almost completely absent.
There is one thing, and one thing only, that allows 8-Bit Christmas to find any form of success, and that's the relevance of the message presented to viewers at the end of the film. 8-Bit Christmas struggles throughout its majority to connect with its viewers, and it’s not until the final moments that it’s able to achieve this goal. But, as they say–too little, too late. While I appreciate this aspect of the film, the reality is that it’s not enough to offset the many negatives that plague the film.
8-Bit Christmas, for lack of a better word, is a ripoff. The minds behind this Christmas film attempted, in nearly every way, to create a holiday film that would resonate with viewers–and what they got was a film that was almost identical to the Christmas classic A Christmas Story. With wonky acting, a failure to present viewers with any emotion, the redundant story, and just about everything else in between–8-Bit Christmas fails to entertain. I had hoped for something better from Neil Patrick Harris [Jake Doyle (Adult)] and the minds that brought the world Elf–but I was ultimately disappointed. 8-Bit Christmas is anything but merry, and should be left on shelves with the likes of the dreaded fruitcake.
Directed by Michael Dowse.
Written by Kevin Jakubowski.
Starring Winslow Fegley, Neil Patrick Harris, Steve Zahn, June Diane Raphael, Bellaluna Resnick, Sophia Reid-Gantzert, Che Tafari, Santino Barnard, Max Malas, Brielle Rankins, Braelyn Rankins, Cyrus Arnold, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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