“A courageous girl sets out on a hazardous journey to find the Christmas Star in order to free the kingdom from a curse and bring back a long lost princess, but some mighty foes try to stop her. A Christmas adventure for the whole family set in a magnificent winter”
– Anonymous, Amazon Description.
Journey to the Christmas Star is a Norwegian film brought to us by Moskus Film. Moskus Film is a Norwegian feature film and television company founded in 2009 by Sigurd Mikal Karoliussen and Jan Eirik Langøen. The film is a remake of a 1976 film, also called Journey to the Christmas Star, which was originally based on a 1924 Norwegian play by Sverre Brandt.
Some thoughts from me (Potential spoilers below)…
Right off the bat, I will say that Journey to the Christmas Star was less laugh-out-loud than I was expecting! The trailer made the movie feel way cheesier than it actually is. I would compare it to The Secret of Moonacre, in that it’s got some funny moments in an otherwise decently composed movie. This movie didn’t quite capture me as much as The Secret of Moonacre, did though, which I think might be because the ‘twist’ in the movie could be seen from a mile away.
To spoil it for everyone, the ‘courageous girl’ and ‘long lost princess’ are one and the same. It’s probably not much of a spoiler as I imagine the majority of the people who read the movie summary could see that twist coming. As a result, I feel like the reveal of this comes too late in the movie. If nothing else then I wish at least that the protagonist learned she was the long lost princess earlier, because her learning this doesn’t really impact the plot at all. She still needs to find the Christmas Star, her being a princess doesn’t change that part.
Interestingly, the story of Journey to the Christmas Star has a lot of similarities to another film I’ve covered, A Fairy Tale Christmas. I am not sure if the producers of A Fairy Tale Christmas drew inspiration from the original play or film, or if it’s just a coincidence that they have similar story beats. If I had to pick between the two, I’d definitely go with Journey to the Christmas Star, it’s definitely the more cohesive and engaging of the two. A Fairy Tale Christmas is more geared towards a younger crowd, while Journey to the Christmas Star is one that adults can get some enjoyment out of. It’s a lot more visually interesting as well, though that’s not a hard fight to win against an opponent like A Fairy Tale Christmas.
So to sum, this one’s not actually that bad, and I feel like it’s worth a look. As with The Secret of Moonacre, don’t expect big laughs with this one, this one is another good candidate for discussing how they could’ve improved the film/what things they did right.
Bad Princess Movies 
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