Earlier this year, The Last of Us was criticized for how it incorrectly portrayed 10 miles west of Boston in an establishing shot. The show is filmed in Calgary and other Alberta locations which are more than 10 miles west of Boston. In the last 10-15 years as the Georgia Film Commission has turned the state into one of the best locations for TV and movie productions, certain liberties have been taken with some movies that quite frankly must have Ed Wood rolling in his grave for how he was treated.
The popular series Cobra Kai has been filmed in the metro-Atlanta area with some exterior scenes obviously showcasing the north Georgia terrain is in direct constrast to the tropical coastal city that is the greater Los Angeles area. Just FYI as of this posting, NOAA forecast temperatures in the mid-to-high 70s for L.A. while in the low 50s for Atlanta for the first full week of December. In the 2018 action heist movie Den of Thieves, set in Los Angeles County, you could clearly see that it was filmed in the Atlanta area in the dead of winter. Sometimes, filmmakers do wonders such as how Stanley Kubrick used the United Kingdom to double for Parris Island and Vietnam for Full Metal Jacket. And other times, you see how filmmakers just don’t give a flip.
Dashing Through the Snow, a family-friendly fantasy holiday movie on Disney-Plus is directed by Tim Story, who made the first two Fantastic Four movies as well as the Ride Along movies and other. It’s written by Scott Rosenberg of Con Air, High Fidelity and the Jumanji sequels. Both are well-revered and talented Hollywood players. So, why they are both attached to a foolishly silly movie like this is a question that needs some serious answers.
Set in the metro-Atlanta area on Christmas Eve, but looking like it was filmed in the summer (because it was), the plot revolves around Eddie Garrick (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), who works as a social worker for the Atlanta Police Department. He suffers from a childhood trauma 30 years earlier in which a mall Santa tried to burglarize his house on Christmas Eve and he thinks it led to his parents divorce. Now, he’s estranged from his wife, Allison (Teyonnah Parris who does absolutely nothing here), and is spending the evening with his daughter, Charlotte (Madison Skye Validum).
The young Validum has enough spirit and cheer that she could’ve made this movie work. But her character is in the wrong movie and Bridges seems so bored to be in this movie it’s almost like he’s reciting his lines from someone off camera. Anyway, Eddie thinks it’s deja vu all over again when he encounters, Nick (Lil Rel Howery), at a neighbor’s house when he stops in to feed the cat. Thinking, Nick who claims to be the real Santa Claus, is mentally unstable, he’s going to use his connections to get Nick in a hospital.
But as they drive, they find themselves being chased by some corrupt politicians goons. Nick had previously encountered them and accidentally stolen the tablet of Conrad Harf (Oscar Nunez), that has all his illegal activities on it. If you’re bored by this already, you’re not alone. The plot is too convoluted for kids to get involved in and too pedestrian to keep adults’ attention.
The Atlanta area during Christmas time can be a joyous time. But I can guarentee, you won’t find many green leaves on the trees. Nor does it rarely ever snow on Christmas the last time being 2010. But even the snow special effects look terrible. This movie follows the pratfalls of most streaming movies where most of the action is regulated to isolated areas such as small residential neighborhoods and many interior scenes. There’s a factory warehouse scene of Santa and his “associates” who are adults who seem like they’re in a steampunk/Moulin Rouge style. So, there’s no elves. And a scene where there’s a nightclub of Santa jamming out music is dull.
And like all movies, it’s about Eddie learning that Santa is real which Charlotte spend two-thirds trying to tell him and in the final act, they’re working together to save Santa and stop the bad guys. Both Validum and Howery seem to have some fun with their respective roles. But there’s not much to the script to keep us interested in them. It seems every year, a filmmaker or in this case, a movie studio, tries to force a new “instant holiday classic” upon us without letting us make the decision for ourselves.
This is another one that shoud go in the “whoopsie bin.”
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 