The Naughty Nine movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Naughty Nine

This fun Christmas caper is now available on Disney+.

RATING: TV-PG

LENGTH: 1 hour 23 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

When a young boy finds out he’s on Santa’s “Naughty” list, he puts together a group of other naughty kids with specific talents for a heist in order to steal their presents from Santa’s workshop in the North Pole.

The family-friendly film was directed by Alberto Belli. Writing credits go to Jen Elinoff and Scott Thomas.

THINGS I LIKED:

Winslow Fegley is adorable and very talented. He has a bright future in Hollywood. He was also adorable in Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. If you haven’t seen that family-friendly movie, check it out! I thought it was super cute!
The rest of the cute cast includes Deric McCabe, Madilyn Kellam, Clara Stack, Camila Rodriguez, Ayden Elijah, Anthony Joo, and Imogen Cohen.
The characters are well-designed and different from one another. They each have unique skills and get their unique learning moment in the movie.
Fantastic sets, especially at the North Pole.
It has all of the adventure and action that kids would want in a movie like this.
Great costume design by Julia Caston.
One of the characters has a really cool tent in his bedroom. You have to look fast! I feel bad for the crew that probably spent a lot of time building it because you only see it on screen for a split second but my sons would have absolutely loved having something like that in their bedrooms.
Anthony Joo’s character lives in a beautiful house. Did you see the façade?
We get to see the incredible Aurora Borealis in the sky. I got to see it when I traveled to Iceland a couple of years ago! Amazing.
Ayden Elijah can do those adorable big eyes like Puss in Boots. https://amzn.to/3QWDpEb
Some Latinos sing a traditional Christmas song for everyone. I sang that song when I was an exchange student in Mexico!
Danny Glover as Santa.
I love it movies reference other movies. For example, the two schools in the movie area named McAllister Elementary from Home Alone in 1990 (https://amzn.to/3QZ0JAW ) and Griswold Middle School from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation in 1989 (https://amzn.to/3GkAK29 ).
Yep, the movie leaves a very wide-open door for a sequel. I’m up for it!

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

There are some bad acting moments.
Don’t get annoyed by all of the plot holes; it’s a kid’s movie.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Bullying
We see a lot of rude, entitled kids do really mean things
We hear kids lie a lot
One of the kids has gay dads
Kids try to convince a good girl that it’s dumb to follow rules.
A little boy swears.
Fart sounds
Stealing

THEMES:

Being good and doing good
Following the rules
Friendship
Teamwork
Utilizing your talents
Guilt
Believing in Santa
Redemption
Making positive changes in your life

FUNNY LINES:

“I can’t help it if my natural swagger projects a sense of confidence.” – Jon Anthony (Deric McCabe)
“You’re frightening.” – Laurel “Thank you.” – Andy (Winslow Fegley)
“This is the North Pole. Cocoa comes out of our tap here.” – Gate Guard Elf (Cihang Ma)
“This is so dope!” – The Getaway Driver Ha-Yoon (Imogen Cohen)

INTERESTING LINES:

“Just because you don’t get caught doesn’t mean you don’t do bad things.” – Laurel (Madilyn Kellam)
“They’re rules, Andy. You follow them because it’s the right thing to do. I like doing the right thing. It makes me feel good.” – Laurel (Madilyn Kellam)
“I took the best person I know and made you naughty like me.” – Andy (Winslow Fegley)
“Every day you have an opportunity to be who you want to be.” – Santa (Danny Glover)
“Just use your powers for nice instead of naughty.” – Santa (Danny Glover)