It’s still the holiday season which means food, festivities, music, and movies. With Christmas on the way, everyone will be keen to break out the old films that puts everyone into the festive spirit. Every year it seems there are also new releases, as it’s typically one of the more profitable genres as well as the perfect time of the year to screen. That said, this tends to make most Christmas themed movies fairly formulaic and very limited in scope. This surely won’t be the case for 8-Bit Christmas though. In fact, this one may end up as a classic.
Solid comedic timing, family oriented, and holiday themed makes 8-Bit Christmas a story that the new generation has been starved of for way too long.
This new holiday release is just the thing to ‘make Christmas movies great again’. It’s sure to be this generation’s A Christmas Story. Actually, the two are quite similar though 8-Bit has plenty packed in to set itself apart. In the present day, Neil Patrick Harris is Jake Doyle, a father who is out and about with his daughter discussing what she wants for Christmas. His daughter desperately wants a cell phone, because well, naturally. This inspires Jake to tell her the story of when he wanted a Nintendo back in 1987. Sound familiar? It may not be a Red Ryder BB Gun, but Nintendos were pretty hot back then. So yes, similar plotting and a similar narrative. 8-Bit Christmas eventually decides to go its own way however as things continue to move along.
This was a very different undertaking than director Michael Dowse is used to but he comes nowhere near close to falling short. Having already pleased audiences with Take Me Home Tonight, he’s shown before that he can capture the essence of the 1980s and he doesn’t miss the mark this time either. He also fulfilled the occasionally daunting task of directing a cast that consists mainly of children, with a few exceptions. The casting of the younger actors was definitely spot on too. They adjust well with having to perform in an environment/time period that is strange and foreign to them (apart from where video games are concerned). Neil Patrick Harris playing a dad is interesting to watch, a slight pivot from his normal choice of parts. The writing is also grounded and written with morality, leaving a bread crumb trail laced with great messaging for the youth who may sit down with their families to watch.
Solid comedic timing, family oriented, and holiday themed makes 8-Bit Christmas a story that the new generation has been starved of for way too long. It has everything a Christmas movie could need and more. Christmas fanatics will gush over a movie like this, and anyone who enjoys stories with heartfelt endings and moralistic undertones are in for a treat as well. Unfortunately, there has been no theatrical release for 8-Bit Christmas. However, if there was ever a movie worth signing up for an HBO subscription, it would be this one. It can be found for stream on either HBO GO or HBO MAX. Don’t sit this one out.
