When Santa fell from the sky

Nine-year-old Ben (Noah Kraus) is amazed when he observes a colorful caravan falling from the sky right in his neighborhood during a thunderstorm. When he goes to explore the vehicle the next day, he meets the jolly Niklas Julebukk (Alexander Scheer), who actually claims to be the real Santa Claus. Of course, Ben doesn't believe the man at first, as he's far too young and slim and, above all, beardless to be Santa Claus. But when the boy sees the goblins and the two Christmas angels (ChrisTine Urspruch and Charly Hübner) who also live in the wondrous caravan, Ben is sure that Niklas was telling the truth. When he learns that Niklas is being hunted by the nasty Waldemar Wichteltod (Volker Lechtenbrink), who wants to turn Christmas into a soulless consumer orgy, Ben promises to help him. Together with his classmate Charlotte (Mercedes Jadea Diaz) and her dog Wutz, the boy plunges into a fantastic adventure to save Christmas - but Waldemar Wichteltod's henchmen are already hot on the kids' heels.

Cornelia Funke's novel Als der Weihnachtsmann vom Himmel fiel (When Santa Fell from the Sky) provides the template for this Christmas tale, which director Oliver Dieckmann has adapted into a child-friendly cinematic adventure with some lovely and very nice ideas. While the two child actors are well chosen, Alexander Scheer is convincing as probably the most unusual Santa Claus of the year. Scheer's enjoyment of the role is clearly evident, giving the film an enjoyable charm. Charm also radiates from Jessica Schwarz as Ben's mother, while Volker Lechtenbrink as the villain is particularly pleasing with his distinctive voice.

As successful as these aspects of the film are, along with the atmospheric locations, other parts of the production are less convincing. Both the more or less convincingly animated goblins, nor the somewhat annoyingly good-hearted Christmas angels are definitely among the film's obvious weak points, and even many a humorously intended moment hits a bit too close to home. Sure, both the characters and the humor are aimed at a very young audience. But sometimes the movie just comes across as too trying to be educational that even the kids miss out on the fun. The primarily silent children in attendance at the press screening at least left that impression.

After all, the attempt to blend real-life issues facing kids today with a fantastical adventure is, on balance, quite successful. When Santa Claus Fell from the Sky is a nice children's film, which is far from being a Christmas classic. But if you want to show your little ones a different kind of Santa Claus for a change, and give them some exciting but never too scary entertainment to boot, you can send kids between the ages of 5 and 11 to this movie with a clear conscience.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp