Starring Laura Marano, Gregg Sulkin, Isabella Gomez, and Johannah Newmarch
Directed by Michelle Johnson
Music and Lyrics by various
Here's another one I didn't know about until a few months ago. I had no idea the Cinderella Story series continued on DVD and digital for over a decade after the first sequel Another Cinderella Story came out. How does this modern holiday fairy tale compare to the other movies in this series, as well as similar Christmas-themed musicals like The Mistle-Tones? Let's begin with our Cinderella in this entry, Kathrine "Kat" Decker (Marano), as she dreams of stardom at her favorite time of the year and find out...
The Story: At the moment, Kat lives with her snobbish stepmother Deirdre (Newmarch) and her two spoiled daughters, shy Grace (Chanelle Peloso) and obnoxious and Internet-obsessed Joy (Lillian Doucet-Roche). Kat works at Santa Land, a local Christmas amusement park, as an elf singer with her seamstress best friend Isla (Gomez). She has a crush on the new Santa Claus...who turns out to be Domenic Wintergarden (Sulkin), the song of wealthy Terrance Wintergarden (Barclay Hope). He tells her who he is, but she can't bring herself to give away her identity after Joy humiliated her online.
Deidre's delighted when she gets an invitation to the Wintergardens' Gala Christmas Ball. Turns out it's for Kat, whose father was a good friend of Terrance's. Deidre takes the dress Isla bought for Kat and has it redone for Joy and burns the invitation Domenic gave her. She wants to pass Joy off as Kat and get at Terrance's money, as she's spent her own. Kat's upset when she's insulted by Domenic's rich friends, including his girlfriend Skylar (Maddie Phillips), and doesn't want to attend the Gala anyway...until her dog Bruno leads her to the letter that gives away her stepmother's plot and finally pushes her to reclaim her life and her identity.
The Song and Dance: A few cute performances brighten this otherwise routine story. Gomez, who would later star in the remake of One Day at a Time, is lively and funny the few times we see her as Kat's supportive best friend. Sulkin is slightly more interesting than most of the love interests in this series, and even gets a really cute duet with Moreno mid-way through. And at least they do make some use of the Christmas setting, including Kat and Isla's fairly amusing jobs working for the barking drill sergeant manager (Garfield Wilson) in the awful holiday suit at Santa Land.
Favorite Number: We open with "The Best Christmas" over the credits as Kat dreams herself into a computer-generated winter concert fantasy. "Toys Toys Toys" is Kat and Isla's number as they sing about what Santa will hopefully bring all the children in the audience at Santa Land. Kat and Domenic perform a charming dance around Santa Land's attractions as they sing about how "Santa Brought Me to You." "What Elves are For" is the cheesy chorus number Kat inadvertently ruins at the Gala, including rock group The Math Club dancing with candy canes. We end with "Everybody Loves Christmas" as Kat makes her big debut at the Gala in a white gown Isla created, dancing with the chorus in strange white wire costumes.
What I Don't Like: Unfortunately has the same problems as the other musical entries in this series. The story is bland and has been done to death (including five other Cinderella Story films). Newmarch and the stepsisters are annoyingly over-the-top, and don't even get much of a comeuppance other than being escorted out of the Gala when their plot is discovered. Marano really isn't much better. Kat's too gullible and silly. Why would she believe a word her stepmother said, especially when she was well aware of how untrustworthy she was?
There's also a lot of complaints online about the "autotuning" on the songs. I think what they mean is the songs have been too heavily processed and digitized, and they do sound a little off as a result. I'm more concerned about the music being stale pop that could fit into any Hallmark romantic comedy without missing a beat. It belies all the constant dialogue praising Kat's so-called "talent."
The Big Finale: I think I'm the wrong audience for this series. Cute enough time-waster if you need background music for your 8 to 14-year-old girl's Christmas party or sleepover; completely unnecessary for anyone else.
Home Media: Easily found on all major formats.
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