I’m still unconvinced the move to CGI animated cartoon was a good one for this franchise… but I get the instinct (human kids have the annoying habit of aging out of their roles). And yet I find the animated versions of the hand-drawn art from the books a little simplistic and disconcerting. But here we are with yet another one of these.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas finds our protagonist on the run from the law… at least in his overactive imagination. He winds up snowed in with his perfectly normal family through Christmas, sure he’s about to get pinched by the cops or found out by his older brother.

I didn’t laugh or smirk too much in this film… and yeah, it’s meant for kids but the franchise always has a knowing wink to adults (at least, I think so). This one had me cocking my eye at its premise, wondering if this premise was really wholesome entertainment for kids. And then I realized I was basically yelling “won’t somebody think of the children” so I had to cut it out and just go with it.

Yeah, the movie is technically pretty harmless and I guess reminded me of losing power after a bad ice storm when growing up in the frozen north. So there was a little familiarity though I didn’t buy the heartwarming finale… call my cynical. But call it a Christmas Special for kids… schmaltz ‘n all.

Score: 73