Media Pro Six, Mirrorball Films, Moviehouse Entertainment,
David Tennant, Marc Wootton, Jason Watkins, Pam Ferris, Jessica Hynes, Ian McNeice, Joanna Page
The Nativity! clan are back, and St. Bernadette’s has a new teacher, Donald (David Tennant) taking over Paul’s classroom after the near disaster last year. But when word of a big contest coming up with any school allowed to enter, the class wants to do another Nativity concert this year. It’s being held in a big castle far away, and the school can’t afford the journey, but Mr. Poppy (Marc Wootton) naturally convinces Donald that they have to go and they set out on a long road trip to get there. But things don’t go so well as they end up finding an infant as a stowaway, and they end up with a donkey that Mr. Poppy insists is a magic donkey who is perfect to guide them and the baby to the Nativity. Surely it’s a sign. But they risk their lives and limbs, are still late getting there and are disqualified. Not only that, but everyone is out looking for them, and nobody is very happy about them sneaking off to try to complete.
This worthy sequel to the original Nativity! is possibly better than the original. Certainly there’s a lot more action and adventure, and the road trip is a major undertaking. The performance is certainly better and after arriving at the contest you would expect the story to end, but there’s still lots more to go. More action and adventure is not the only improvements. Marc Wootton has a better feel for the Mr. Poppy character and is, in my opinion, even funnier than he was in the first one. The addition of David Tennant was also quite good. He does a terrific job trying to deal with Mr. Poppy’s madness. The performances are excellent, and the show is a lot better than the first one. But it has all the humor that made the original special. Again, the heavy English humour may be off putting for some, but I enjoyed it very much. I have3 heard of a 3rd movie coming out this year, Nativity 3: Dude, where’s my Donkey? This means that they’re keeping the donkey from this film, and bringing back Mr. Poppy and the kids of St. Bernadette’s. But there is a new teacher once again, and hopefully it will be a pleasant as the others. It’s been theatrically released in the UK and Ireland this Christmas (2014) but we’ll probably have to wait for it till next year in the US. But in the meantime, catch the other two, and see if you agree that 2 is even better than the original. Note, Like Nativity! this film is airing Christmas 2014 on UPtv.
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