Okay, back to average Christmas movies we go, I guess. It sounds like I’m saying that with pure apathy, so you may be surprised to know that I didn’t actually hate The Knight Before Christmas. I mean, I’m not going to say it’s my favourite movie of all time, but it was… fine. You know what I mean? It was just fine.
Starring Netflix Christmas movie darling Vanessa Hudgens and British sweetheart Josh Whitehouse, this is a Christmas rom-com with a twist: it features a medieval English knight who has been sent to present day small town Ohio to figure out his purpose. Of course this all leads to him falling in love with science teacher Brooke (Hudgens) and attempting to adapt to the mysteries of modern America. What happens after that?… Don’t ask me, I don’t actually remember at all.
As you may or may not have gathered after that previous sentence, I actually watched this film about 3 weeks ago, so I can’t promise I’ll remember much about it as a whole. And that should tell you something about it before I even get started, but I’ll try my best…
As a person who just does not love Vanessa Hudgens (I won’t go into them here, but I have my reasons) in general, The Knight Before Christmas was at a disadvantage before I even pressed play. However, I actually found her to be minimally annoying on this occasion, which was hugely surprising. Of course the nature of this movie calls for some cheese and doesn’t exactly rely on the best acting in the world, so she was well suited really… and I promise that is not intended to be shade.
Netflix have been doing this weird thing recently where they produce Hallmark-style Christmas films, just with some more recognisable names at the forefront. This one is exactly that. In regards to plot, it’s pretty much standard in that it’s just what you’d expect from a romantic comedy set during the holidays. In this case though, the inclusion of some flashbacks to the 1300s and a little bit of witchery meant that it wasn’t quite as boring as similar films. So at least it has that going for it?
Despite there truly being some mild positives about The Knight Before Christmas, there’s so much about it that is also extremely unremarkable. Namely, what makes this movie so average rather than outstanding though is that it’s just impossible to really connect or care about most of the characters. Whilst the titular knight is quite endearing, you know where it’s going from the word go, so there’s nothing to create a sense of wonder or tension. It is suitably Christmassy in its aesthetic at least, and is put together well as a whole. Especially for a Netflix film.
Although this is by no means my favourite festive film, there are so many that are far worse. At its best, A Knight Before Christmas is average, at its worst, it’s a tad tedious.
A Knight Before Christmas is currently available to stream on Netflix in the UK.
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