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| Tookey's Review |
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| Cast |
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| Released: |
2012 |
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| Genre: |
MUSICAL
SEQUEL
FAMILY
COMEDY
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| Origin: |
UK |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
109 |
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The Christmas film from hell.
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Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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The first Nativity was a corny, amateurish shambles, but it had that hard-to-define quality of likeability. Its sequel has none.
Taking over from Martin Freeman, who’s currently inhobbiting bigger things, a hapless David Tennant (pictured left) plays a primary school teacher who has the poor judgment to take a job in a school run by a criminally negligent headmistress (Pam Ferris) who’s appointed her dangerously insane nephew, “Mr Poppy” (Marc Wootton, pictured right), as a classroom assistant.
Even more than in the first film, this remarkably annoying character does his best to imperil children’s lives. Having abducted them illegally from their families in order to enter a Welsh singing competition, Mr Poppy takes them – and a stolen baby - white-water rafting and abseiling down cliffs with an irresponsibility that in any civilised society would get him locked up. Amazingly, in this film he’s meant to be the hero.
Just as worthy of censure is writer-director Debbie Isitt, especially for co-writing the atrocious songs that bring the proceedings to a grisly climax, and labouring the schmaltzy religious metaphors that end with the kids having an impromptu sex education class in a Christmas stable.
It’s hideous to look at, and worse to hear. All around me, I noticed jaws hanging open in disbelief at how a film this excruciating could ever get made, let alone find a release. The Christmas turkey has arrived.
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