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Jingle Jangle Movie Review

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey is a 2020 Christmas musical fantasy film directed by David E. Talbert and starring Forest Whitaker among others. It’s a charming, but messy product.

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“Grandchildren are like children,

only you can give them back“

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Decades after his apprentice betrays him, a once joyful toy maker finds new hope when his bright young granddaughter appears on his doorstep. The problem with this movie is that it is overstuffed with way too many cooks in the kitchen. The plot overall is magical and wonderful, but the many different plot points and numerous characters coupled with a very heavy emphasis on quick pacing made it too chaotic for me. I was ultimately bored by the experience and that should never have happened in a fantasy flick.

When you have magic all the time, it becomes faint. There is a thing called having too much of a good thing and this is this movie. But still, the magic is there in some moments, especially as it regards the toys themselves. I adored the steampunk aesthetic to this movie and the overall quaint antique quality to it made it an absolute treat to watch.

The characters are not as well developed as I would have liked, but some are quite memorable. Forest Whitaker is excellent as the protagonist Jeronicus. Keegan-Michael Key is wonderful as always in the role of the memorable Gustafson while Ricky Martin as Don Juan Diego was an inspired casting choice. Ms. Johnston was to me the funniest character and all of her bits were hilarious. She’s a real chaser, that’s for sure.

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Jingle Jangle is also a musical, but not really all that inspired at that. There are some songs here that are quite good, but most just blend in together and aren’t too easy to distinguish from one another. The movie is full of excess in everything, including even the technical aspects, but there is no denying the great costume work, score, imagery and world building. I just wish that it were more coherent and slower paced. It would have been so much better had it slowed down for a while for us as audiences to take everything in properly.

You can have too much of a good thing, as is the case with Jingle Jangle. This is the type of overly busy movie that is overstuffed with so many magical ingredients, but because it is so chaotic in pacing and energy, it becomes somewhat muddled in all that excess. Still, there is no denying the old-fashioned charm in its steampunk aesthetic, likable characters, strong world building and a big heart at its core.

My Rating – 3.5