Prismark10 Marc Wootton returns as the childlike incompetent teacher's assistant Mr Poppy and irritates the hell out of everyone including this viewer.David Tennant in a dual role is the new teacher Mr Donald Peterson who is tormented by Mr Poppy and ends up taking the schoolkids over the mountains of Wales to enter the National 'Song for Christmas' Competition, mainly because Mr Shakespeare from the posh rival school switched the road signs.However Mr Shakespeare meets his match in Mr Roderick Peterson, a celebrated musical director, also a cheat and Donald's twin brother who conspires to do whatever it takes to succeed.The film gives the impression that it had a semi finished script with some ad libbing from the kids. You get a bit of riffing of The X Factor audition stage. The infantile plot runs out of steam long before the finish line but then you end up with a lot of singing and dancing from the kids. All very forgettable and I doubt even the kids would enjoy it much.

TheLittleSongbird Found the first 'Nativity!' film enjoyable for what it was. It was nothing mind-blowing, but achieved what it set out to do well and didn't try to be any more than it was. The same goes with its inferior but not that bad sequel 'Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger'.'Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger' is easier to criticise and is far from a great film, or at least to me that was the case. Am not going to resort to spouting the ridiculous and untrue "it's a kids film" excuse, especially considering that it's a family film not a kids one so adults are more than entitled to judge. Plus coming from somebody who loves Christmas and a lot of festive films it is pretty condescending and immature to accuse those who didn't like it as much of being a scrooge. With that being said it will appeal to children, who are very likely to love it, while being more divisive by adult standards. It is easy to see why 'Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger' has been criticised. The story is very silly and formulaic, even by younger viewer standards. It also suffers at times from pacing issues, some parts are too hectic and then other parts lose momentum and drag, including the once again over-extended finale. The improvisatory nature of the script is not always as natural this time round, some awkward moments, and there is a tendency for the schmaltz to go too over-the-top and sickeningly twee. Marc Wooton was a scene stealer in the first 'Nativity!' film, here he wildly overplays and it is largely to do with how the character is written.However, David Tennant is a very game replacement for Martin Freeman and Pam Ferris as ever is splendid. Up-staging them, and the best thing about the film, are the children, once again so easy in presence and with such great comic timing and individuality.'Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger' looks nice enough in its own simple, un-flashy way. The music is very catchy and gives a real sense of Christmas and there is a nice spirit in the scenes where the pacing doesn't hinder it. The film does have a warm heart and sweet well-intentioned charm, along with some amusing, if not as sparkling as before, comic elements.Overall, not great but not that bad. It's slightly above "on the fence" for me. 6/10 Bethany Cox

ihopetherespudding I saw this on Wednesday on a slightly sceptical note,having seen the Daily Mail's review for it but as I really liked the first one,I was willing to give it a go. Fortunately for me,the tickets were free so the only thing I wasted was time. Just as a summary, it was bad. How bad? Well,my sister had to revert to texting on her mobile,something she'd never do at a film. First of all,let me say the good things about this film. The first 20 minutes are fairly entertaining, the performances are decent enough and the songs aren't half bad albeit the fact that most of them are forgettable. Where this lacks is the charm and how much it drags. I hate films that drag and you end up questioning how long is the said film exactly. The last film to do that to me was Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2:Rodrick Rules. As for the charm aspect,there is little to no charm. Remember the little ginger kid and the one with the hat? Yeah,they're still in it but they've grown up slightly and have been replaced by a three year old and a chubby kid wearing a donkey outfit. And the ending drags and is also really predictable. So that's my review. Would I recommend it? Probably not but if you have little kids with you and have seen everything else, go see it. If not,there's plenty of newly released dvds to choose from. Just rent them and buy some popcorn.

adam jenkins Oh Dear.I've watched loads of films with my daughter (who is now 10), I am a bit of a film buff, so hope I can give a bit of guidance on this to other parents.This film is xmassy, but only because it is crucifying in the biblical sense.If you have kids under 6, i'm sure they will enjoy it, only because they will enjoy seeing wootton providing some kids entertainer type laughs, other kids dancing and singing and some xmas backgrounds, but whereas kids films normally have an adult undercurrent to keep the parents happy, this is a film for kids apparently written by kids.There really is a sense of everything being made up on the spot, with no logic or reason to the film.As parents you know how painful it can be watching your kids Christmas shows at schools only for the sheer joy of 5 minutes to see your child doing something, well imagine watching the last hour of this film seeing just that without having your kid in it.I saw the first one, which wasn't too bad, but you have to give this a wide berth, to tell directors they have to do better than this mediocrity.(never given a film a 1 before - although the happening came pretty close)