So with Christmas Eve just a week away we take on another new film, but is it second time lucky for;
Nativity 2 - Danger in the Manger
Following on from the success of Nativity back in 2009, Mr Poppy is back at St Bernadette's school for more classroom mayhem. This time he is joined by a new teacher in the form of Mr Peterson AKA David Tennant.
Those of you who have seen the original Nativity with Martin Freeman, will know how Mr Poppy is a classroom assistant, who is more of a kid than the kids are themselves. And in Nativity 2 nothing has changed. Mr Poppy is still seeing off supply teachers with enormous regularity with his outrageous classroom antics. That is until he spots the Song for Christmas competition and is determined to enter his school and win. Of course, the rival school from the first film make an appearance, but to double the tension and give the plot a sufficient twist to make it different from the first film, Mr Peterson's twin brother turns up with another rival school for the Song for Christmas competition.
"What song for Christmas competition?" *shrugs shoulders* - Watch the film, then you will get it.
So that's your plot. A song competition, plenty of rivalry, goodies and baddies, a trek across Wales to reach the venue and a baby and a donkey thrown in for good measure. What could possibly go wrong?
Judging by the reviews on Amazon, Nativity 2 is a bit of a "Marmite movie", they either loved it or hated it. The two most helpful reviews stated; "Christmas magic!" and "Embarrassing drivel".
So it is a difficult one to call. In fairness we at TNiFN Towers are tending toward the "Christmas magic" side of the balance, but only just. However, it is a Christmas movie after all, so lighten up!
OK the antics of Mr Poppy (Marc Wootton) are a health and safety nightmare, but that's the point, it is innocent fun, you know full well that the underdogs will come out on top, but it's how they get there that counts and Nativity 2 has just enough Christmas cheer to keep things ticking over nicely, with plenty of laughs and the occasional sad moment, just to keep you hooked.
The cast are superb, Tennant manages to pull off a double header by playing both the Peterson twins (makes sense really), Marc Wootton is sublimely ridiculous as the irreverent Mr Poppy, clearly ad libbing his way through all his scenes. In fact most of the scenes were improvised with certain key points in a loose script for the cast to "hit".
Adding to the cast are Joanna Page as Mr Peterson's pregnant wife and the brilliant Ian McNiece as the over-bearing father of the Peterson twins. Pam Ferris reprises her role from Nativity as she is still the Headmistress of St Bernadette's. Also Jason Watkins is back, as the pompous teacher; Gordon Shakespeare from rival school Oakmoor. Also making an appearance is the lovely Jessica Hynes as competition host Angel Matthews.
Anyway, all in all Nativity 2 - Danger in the Manger is a pretty good Christmas giggle, it's not going to be a classic Christmas movie, but it is certainly entertaining enough to get you into the Christmas spirit and the music is pretty good too, well as long as you enjoy children singing!
TNiFN Rating 70%
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