8-Bit Christmas – Film Review

Set in suburban Chicago in the late 1980s, the story centers on ten-year-old Jake Doyle’s (Winslow Fegley) herculean quest to get the latest and greatest video game system for Christmas – the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

As many of you may know, I’ve been playing video games ever since I was a very little kid – probably around maybe six years old. Although I don’t play as many now (mainly because I feel as though modern games are mostly terrible), I will always be a gamer at heart. One of the very first memories I have of gaming was when I played Duck Hunt on the Nintendo Entertainment System with my older brother as well as Super Mario Bros. From that point on, I absolutely fell in love with video games.

Of course, as the years went by, even more incredible consoles were coming out such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 which I of course asked for for Christmas. If you’re not a gamer, just trust me when I say that there is truly no better feeling than waking up on Christmas morning as a kid and finding a new video game or console under the tree. It’s absolutely fantastic. The best reaction I’ve ever seen of a kid opening up a console and having a hilarious reaction is the infamous Nintendo 64 kid.

So I know just how special getting something like this for Christmas truly feels, and that’s one of the reasons I really got a kick out of Michael Dowse‘s new film 8-Bit Christmas, which follows a young boy who will do whatever it takes to get the newly released NES by Christmas Day. Of course, seeing as how this is a film, it’s not as easy as just going to the store and buying it. For one, he’s a kid – how in the world is he going to find the money to get this thing? And two, even if he did have the money, the console sold out immensely fast.

Thus the journey begins. One of the things I truly appreciated about 8-Bit Christmas is that it knows it’s not some groundbreaking movie that needs to be serious. It kind of has the same vibe as Home Alone as well as Diary of a Wimpy Kid which, if you ask me, is a winning combo. The film is brimming with childlike wonder and you can tell that screenwriter Kevin Jakubowski and director Michael Dowse have an extreme love for 80s movies, video games, and Christmas.

It’s difficult to describe just how sweet and uplifting this movie is because, to be honest, I found myself smiling throughout the entire movie and I didn’t know why exactly. It’s remarkably funny, it has a ton of memorable characters, and a storyline that works and goes down an unpredictable path which I truly liked. There are some great messages in here for young children to take away from. Not only is this film going to entertain kids of all ages, but it will also teach them some valuable life lessons without feeling too preachy which is great.

And I know this is such a small thing to point out, but I just adored seeing Steve Zahn in this film. He is one of my favorite actors ever thanks to his role as Frank Heffley in the aforementioned Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies, and he is just as wonderful here, as is the rest of the cast including Neil Patrick Harris and Winslow Fegley.

Is 8-Bit Christmas one of the best movies of the year? No. It does feel a bit too gimmicky occasionally and not every scene feels grounded and sometimes they can even get a bit too corny, but for the most part, the film is a relentlessly entertaining Christmas comedy for all ages that is sure to bring out your inner gamer.