In the Disney Channel/Disney+'s The Naughty Nine, kid Andy (played by Winslow Fegley, who's name you might not know but he's been a lead or at least main character in a surprising number of films recently) doesn't get a present from Santa Claus (Lethal Weapons' Danny Glover) because he's on the naughty list. Feeling cheated, the self-serving Andy decides to assemble a crew of other kids on the list in order to break into the North Pole and get the presents they wanted.
What follows is an average Disney Channel story. The characters, the moral lesson and the plot are alright. However, the film never reaches as high a beat as it could have. The idea of a Christmas heist film is a good one, and one watches it and cannot ignore the wasted potential and think how this could've been done better. Still, this is from the jaded adult mind. I don't see your children being so picky.
This is a Disney Channel movie in which there isn't a theatrical film-level budget, but the budget is higher and the creators put more effort in than you expect. The North Pole/Santa's Village doesn't look half bad. (Would've preferred more variation with the various buildings, but I'm probably nitpicking.) Sets, effects, and costumes are all colorful. The outfits in this especially stand out.
The child actors here are on average just okay. The two actors who play Andy's parents I felt weren't so great. (Though in fairness, it could be the script and direction. They're the type of parents who aren't aware of their child's wrongdoings and they come off as kinda dumb.) The advertisements for this stress that Danny Glover is in this, but he isn't in it that much, it's the situation where the famous actor clearly came in for one day's worth of filming.
Recommended specifically for children. For adults, you've probably got other films that are a better way of spending your time, but this will probably pique children's interest.
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