Doctor Who: Last Christmas (2014)

Boring

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

As "Doctor Who" Christmas specials go, it's doubtful whether any of them will ever match "A Christmas Carol" for sheer magical seasonal spirit, but "Last Christmas" is one of the better efforts. It's a mixture of humor, sadness, creepiness, wonder and cynicism, all served up with characteristic Steven Moffat quirkiness. This may be an episode that you need to watch twice: one for the ride, and one to be clear on the (quite complex) story. It has some ingenious ideas, but it is also (deliberately) derivative of "Alien", "Nightmare on Elm Street", and "Inception". Nick Frost is a funny Santa Claus, and Faye Marsay is endearing in a role that might have been intended as a new companion for the Doctor until it was confirmed that Clara would stay on board. Some of the visual effects (the flying sleigh at the end) are a little shoddy. *** out of 4.

This Christmas special, surprisingly, was not as terrible as I thought it was going to be. However, it had problems.In actuality, the overall story was quite heartwarming and is perhaps the most 'warm' that we've seen Capaldi's Doctor so far. In particular, I loved Nick Frost's performance as Santa Claus, which could have been so hammy and over-the-top as most are. As a huge fan of both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, I had huge expectations of Frost, and he more than lived up to them. As always, Peter Capaldi receives my utmost praise as the Doctor, who I feel has proved all the naysayers wrong with his performance in the past series.I also enjoyed the visual references and similarities to Alien (loved the joke) and The Thing, which gave an atmosphere to a fairly bland story.What I did not enjoy was learning that we are going to have to endure another series of Clara Oswald, who in my opinion is even more annoying than Amy Pond (which is saying a lot). But on the plus side, it looks like Danny Pink is dead for good... but then again this show is written by Steven Moffat, who we all know has a penchant for bringing people back from the dead...Side characters were forgettable, but was nice to see Michael Troughton (Son of Patrick) in an episode.A nice episode overall.

How many times do you hear someone saying something like "I didn't expect much of it, but it was alright", or conversely "I had heard such great things but it was only alright"; same outcome, but the receipt of that outcome is much more of a positive when you expected less, not more. Of course with Doctor Who it is normal that you expect less, but it almost feels deliberate that the show caused my expectations to drop so low this time. After a reasonably okay final few episodes (aside from some terrible decisions), we got Nick Frost popping in as Santa ("stunt casting" as Theo rightly calls it) to announce the Christmas special – something that made me feel this special would be even more silly and festive than usual.Starting the episode, this is precisely how I felt as we had so-so comedy from Frost and his elves, making me feel like this was going nowhere but even lower than I had feared. The move to the North Pole doesn't help this, since we see a character dancing to Slade in an attempt to avoid some form of danger – really making me cringe. However from here we get thrown into a horror movie of sorts, with some images that sort of made me questions what we have done to ourselves in the last 25-30 years that Aliens once got an 18 but yet these very similar images are now family TV-viewing. This is not the Mary Whitehouse coming out in me, because I thought it was great to have something to shake me and the special out of a festive stupor.From here the content is weirdly mixed; with Frost still hanging around but yet this horror going on at the same time. It doesn't really work as it is happening, but gradually it works in retrospect as the plot falls into place. Mixing Aliens and Inception kind of works, and although the plot doesn't totally hang together (moving quickly at times to try to stop viewers asking too many questions), it is broadly pretty engaging. The ending felt like it was two endings – the second of which was thrown on once they got the thumbs up from Coleman that she will return for the next season (which is what they did in the end – which is a shame because the first ending was much better). The writing is mostly okay but as usual it cannot control itself and we get silliness thrown in, along with clumsy references like we are stupid. The cast are solid and in particular this episode shows the value of Capaldi. While Smith was part of the silliness, this slightly dour Doctor sits outside it with a cynical edge, so the viewer can sit with him, so when he reluctantly goes with it despite himself, it feels easier to accept (namely the "do you want a go scene" – which would have been totally different with a childish Smith begging to have a go). This cynicism in word and presence works to the show's favor – particularly in a silly show like this. Coleman is okay, although I really hope they find a reason to have kept her in the show; personally this previous season would have been her "big" one in terms of story, but they have done that and also not gotten too much good work from her. Frost is funny once you realize that he is not the whole show, and generally the supporting players are decent enough without being anything too amazing.So, against my expectations this was actually quite good. The tone is wobbly, and the plot doesn't make anywhere near as much sense as it would like you to think, but it is enjoyably scary and at least brings in all the Christmas silliness in a way that allows it to have it, but also treat it as a side issue at the same time.

So it's safe to say that 2014 has been a roller coaster year for Doctor Who. After delivering what I believe to be one of its strongest seasons, with such standout episodes as Listen, Kill the Moon and Dark Water, it succumbed to sheer ridiculousness with its mess of a finale; Death in Heaven. Leaving a horribly sour taste in the mouth of a wonderful season, this year's annual Christmas special, titled Last Christmas, needed to retain that quality brought about in the middle third of this year's season. And, much to my delight, it did.Doctor Who's Christmas specials have always been hit and miss. Ranging from the amazing A Christmas Carol to the atrocious Voyage of the Damned, quite literally anything can happen in the hour time slot Doctor Who gets on the 25th. After arguably the show's best run of episodes, Steven Moffat (returning to top form, here) has delivered arguably the show's best Christmas episode to date. Going in, everyone was uncertain as to whether Clara Oswald (the superb Jenna Coleman) would be continuing her role next year. Whilst we knew this incarnation of the Doctor (the superber Peter Capaldi) would return, we were left on tenterhooks about the continuation of the much improved Clara. Last Christmas delivers the best Christmas present any Clara fan could ask for: she is staying for Season 9.Last Christmas was an episode packed with humour, fear, emotion, and, obviously, Christmas spirit. Whilst many other attempts for this formula have failed in the past, Moffat got the balance perfectly right here. Nick Frost was on hand to deliver an unusual but effective turn as Santa Claus, who's arguments and misunderstandings with the Doctor led to many memorable moments; "Why don't you go and write a naughty list!" being a solid example. Frost (so aptly named) played the role with an infectious amount of fun, but never overdoes it, which is highly commendable in a role of this caliber. The supporting cast are also solid, if slightly underdeveloped. Their final moments of the episode are touching though, so clearly the underdevelopment isn't too big a catastrophe. Despite the final 15 minutes being perhaps a tad too silly for some, it worked for me. Doctor Who is at its all time best when it blurs the boundaries between silly and serious (ala Kill the Moon), and this was another great showcase for that effect.Capaldi and Coleman were terrific too, as ever. Danny Pink returned briefly for a (possibly/hopefully) final farewell in a scene that was more emotional than it had any right to be after his terrible ending back in Death in Heaven, but these three have such terrific on screen chemistry that they could make almost anything work. Moffat crafted a script that took on a huge number of pop culture references, multiple genres and a healthy combination of action and dialogue without ever allowing the episode to become confusing, and he ultimately delivered his best Christmas work yet. Many people still criticised this episode and compared it to the Davies era, but that's the thing with Doctor Who. The basic formula of this show requires that it switch up and change constantly, and this is one of those examples. Davies and Moffat are very different writers, with very different styles, but this does not make one definitively better than the other. Both have their strengths, and both have their weaknesses. For me, whilst Moffat lost a touch of his creativity through seasons six and seven, he now seems to be back on top form, with Doctor Who's best year since 2010. All I can say is bring on 2015, when Doctor Who's wonder trio of Moffat, Capaldi and Coleman are set to come back better than ever.Full review here: http://morrismovies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/doctor- who-last-Christmas.html