8-BIT CHRISTMAS (2021)

8-BIT CHRISTMAS (2021)

Tagline: Nope.

(Comedy, Family, Instant Classic) [PG]

It was the most beautiful piece of machinery I'd ever laid eyes on. The thing made Luke Skywalker's robot hand look like a Tinker toy.

In this one, a father Jake Doyle is telling his daughter about his Christmas adventure in 1988. The whole plan was for him to obtain a Nintendo for Christmas and also help his little sister get a Cabbage Patch doll as well. What lengths would he be willing to do to, in order to have these highly sought-after pop culture icons of childhood?

First, off any commercial, you see out there saying this is an “instant classic” is absolutely correct. It’s freakin phenomenal and for me, it’s already going to be on my yearly December “must watch” list. Secondly, it’s pretty much non-stop hilarious for anyone that either had something they really wanted for Christmas as a kid or anyone that grew up in the80’s. There is just something wildly unique and wondrous about that time period. 

In the movie, the coveted video game system is Nintendo, but for me, in the 80’s it was the original Atari 2600. We would literally line up outside of his apartment of the only kid that had the game system in the entire complex, and it would sometimes mean sitting there for hours watching him play Pac-Man before we even got a chance to take a turn. Of course, we would take that turn and almost immediately die. This kid had like a black and white TV, which by today’s standards would be rough regarding the kinds of TVs you can own, but to us, it was 18” inches of mind-blowing grayscale pixels sent directly from heaven. 

Score wise this movie is epic and the soundtrack features just enough 80’s classics to make your nostalgic heart pound for more. There aren’t really many effects in this movie, but the cinematography is top-notch. 

Acting-wise this thing is loaded with great young talent. I think lead actor Winslow Fegley (who plays young Jake Doyle) did fantastically. He doesn’t have a very extensive list of roles he’s done yet, but both his parents are also actors, so he’s likely in good hands. Neil Patrick Harris is awesome in this as well playing the older version of Jake Doyle in a role involving mostly narration. Steve Zahn plays young Jake Doyle’s father in the movie and he’s probably one of my favorite characters. Steve Zahn is probably mostly known for playing the side-kick in SAHARA. June Diane Raphael plays Jake Doyle’s mom and is also pretty solid in this. She is probably best known for the TV show “Grace and Frankie”. Bellaluna Resnick plays Jake’s younger sister Lizzy and there is actually quite a bit of character development between her and Jake’s character in a short amount of time. Resnick has only been in one other acting project prior to this. Che Tafari best known for the TV show “Rel” is great in this as “Mikey” as are Santino Barnard whose pretty funny and Braelyn Rankins (who plays young Vic on DOOM PATROL) and Brielle Rankins. We also get quite a bit of Cyrus Arnold who is an extremely dynamic actor most famous for RUN, HIDE, FIGHT. 

In many ways, this movie resonated with me. I didn’t really have a fixer-upper type dad like Jake does, but I had friends almost exactly like a lot of the kids in this movie. I also remember having to use walkie-talkies when we could get them and not really having easy ways to communicate back and forth unless you were with the person. Payphones were your best friend. I even had a bully at one point, but my way of dealing with that kid was a lot different from how it goes in the movie. 

I would imagine 80’s kids will identify with this movie as much as 1950’s kids enjoyed A CHRISTMAS STORY. Both films are actually told in similar styles using narration. The chemistry with these actors is amazing and we get a ton of very likable characters. I freakin love this movie. It’s great for the entire family. 

I give this one an enthusiastic 7 out of 7. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF NEW LINE CINEMA AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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