Hello everyone, welcome to the Matta critic. This is Matthew Hemenway. I have changed my brand from Matthew Hemenway to the Matta critic. Whether you followed me or not, I do detail reviews and analysis of books, movies, and TV shows. I will give you an honest overview of the texts that I review. I am more than qualified to do this. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from UNCC and a 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. This makes me uniquely qualified to do this. Please consider checking out my Facebook page to get links and check out the posts from YouTube, TikTok and Patreon. I hope this video inspires you to read, watch, and learn.
In this episode of Matta Critic. I will be reviewing and analyzing the DCOM movie Christmas Again that is currently on Disney+. This movie came out in 2021. I will go over several topics in this episode. I will give you my rating at the end of this episode. Now on with the review.
The movie begins with it being Christmas Eve with Rowena talking to her mother about her favorite Christmas memories. She told her mother that she had made a list of them. She had 5 on the list. She wanted to do around the world Christmas exhibit at the museum which is number 5. She wanted to relive going to the famous Ferris wheel at Navy Pier watching the holiday performers which is at her number 4. Her number 3 is to watch the Santa Vs. Elves hockey game. She cheers for the Santas and hopes they can finally beat the Elves in that match. Her number 2 is to do the platform thingy at the Hancock building. Her number 1 is that she wants to go to the Winter Festival that her family has gone to for several years.
Rowena is a child of divorced parents who is of Latino heritage. She and her mother speak a little Spanish as her mother tells Rowena to go to bed. She wakes up the next morning and Louie wears a white sheet as a ghost and Rowena trips on her skateboard and she spills her juice on Gabby’s laptop. Rowena will have to deal with the fact that Louie is younger than her and that she is having to deal with changes. Rowena is not happy with these changes. She is 12 and is struggling with her mom and dad being divorced. She does not like it one bit. Her maternal grandparents also came to see her family.
Rowena has Jerry and Bruce who are her uncles. Yes, Gerry and Bruce are gay. Gerry is an attorney who has taken comedy classes. He must trust himself, but Rowena when this day was happening at first does not want to listen to his joke. Rowena is more interested in watching Santa vs. The Elves hockey game. This is Rowena wanting things to stay as they are.
When Rowena is watching the game, Louie keeps turning the TV on and off, and it would be very annoying and upsetting for that to happen. Loue throws the remote at her and she falls over the model train set and knocks stuff down chasing Louie. Before this happened, Uncle Bruce broke the bowl that had been in Rowena’s family for generations. They all are mad at her as Gabby tells her that she will kill her for accidently spilling juice on Gabby’s laptop and Rowena ruined Christmas. Rowena tells them, I ruined Christmas, you all ruined Christmas. This is where Rowena runs out of the house and runs into Santa Claus. She tells him that she wishes that she can have Christmas like she used to. He tells her, you want a do over. She tells Santa, yes, she does. He gives her the wish that she granted.
Rowena relives Christmas again. She ends up living several versions of Christmas. It will be a lesson. The movies that this movie is pulled from are Groundhog Day, 12:01, the 12 Dates of Christmas, and the Parent Trap. I will let you know why I am using Parent Trap later in this episode.
In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays a reporter who ends up living this day over again. He is stuck in a time loop and must get the day right until the loop ends. This same thing is happening to Rowena which she must relive Christmas until she gets it right. She wants to do her favorite activities, but she is doing them without her family. She decides to go without them than deal with the reality that things are changing.
In 12:01, someone turns on a machine and that machine causes a time loop like in this movie. The main character gets zapped by a spark in his lamp when the machine is turned on. He must live this day over again until he stops the person that is using the machine to repeat the day. Rowena feels like this guy does in that this is never ending.
In the 12 Dates of Christmas, the main character in this film is reliving Christmas Eve over again and is trying to get with the guy she is supposed to be with. She must go through several dates until she gets it right. The time loop will not end until she does that. This is no different than Rowena in that way in this movie.
Another movie that comes to mind is the Parent Trap. Whether you like the 1963 version or the 1998 version, the two twins are trying to get their parents back together. Rowena is trying to do the same thing here, but it is not working like in those two movies did. Rowena finds out that her dad is getting remarried, and she will not be able to change his mind.
Rowena, like Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day, is feeling depressed. She decides to eat ice cream and put whip cream in her mouth. She tries to get rid of her alarm clock, but that is not working. She like Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day must get this day right for it to end.
As not to be revealed anymore, nothing more will be revealed here. It does bring the viewer to the climax of this story. The martial art in this movie is very realistic in that when Rowena is performing it. If you use the right leverage and know how to lift someone. The martial art in this movie is Judo. I know from personal experience from my training in Taekwondo. The person in this movie who knows Judo is Uncle Bruce.
I will give you, my rating. I give Christmas Again, a 10 out of 10. It was fun but helps the viewer to understand the meaning of Christmas. Rowena, like Ebenezer Scrooge in a Christmas Carol, must learn to care for other people and not herself. Rowena will grow in this movie, and like Santa told her that her mom and dad will still love her even if they are not together. It is a lesson that she must learn. As Santa told her, things will change, but it does not mean that it is all bad. It is up to each person to accept that. Rowena learns to love her family, and she realizes that Christmas is not about her traditions but making new memories with new friends and realizing that family is not who your blood is, but it is who you love. This is the most important thing; if each person leaves their heart open to love, then it is no telling what that person can do with it.
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Music: A Day to Remember and No Filter Trap from Microsoft's Clipchamp Video Editor
Reference: Christmas Again?! 2021 and Picture: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/christmasagain/6LBqUTqduFue
Reference: 12 Dates of Christmas (2011): https://www.hulu.com/movie/12-dates-of-christmas-5dc1ca7b-8285-4109-becf-164db8e9eb89
Reference: Groundhog Day (1993): www.netflix.com and https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Reference: 12:01 (1993): www.netflix.com and https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106188/
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