Journey to Bethlehem

Scene stealing megalomanic King Herod (Antonio Banderas) hams up marvellously in this enjoyable if totally forgettable pre-Nativity Christmas story. He presides over the kingdom of Judah towards which three magi are heading when they espy a bright star in the sky portending an event of great importance. Meantime, the well educated Mary (Fiona Paloma) is regaling against an arranged marriage with a man she's never even met! Anyway, times being what they are, she has to acquiesce and meets the fairly easy on the eye Joseph (Milo Manheim). It's not exactly hate a first sight, but one night she get's another - more celestial - visitor who leaves her with quite a belly ache. She tells her folks, then her would-be husband and is soon, unsurprisingly, on her own... Quite why Gabriel couldn't just have told everyone at once? Anyway, the increasingly paranoid Herod gets wind of this impending miracle and uses the three kings and his son Antipater (Joel Smallbone) to track down and destroy the potential usurper. That fact that we still celebrate Christmas eliminates any sense of jeopardy so this is essentially just a light-hearted piece of musical theatre that uses the two slightly soporific stars to tell us a story of when Mary met Joseph. The songs are standard fayre with plenty of perfect choreography, some earnest lyrics about love and loyalty (and a fun song from Banderas about absolute power) before Omid Djalili's visiting Melchior tries to explain what myrrh is for. It's wordy, cheesy but joyous seasonal stuff that I was rather surprised to find got a cinema release in the UK. You shouldn't hate it.

I don't mind musicals, but they aren't necessarily my favorite genre of film. I saw the trailer for this movie and thought it looked corny, however, a friend wanted to see it so I thought I'd give it a chance. I have to admit I was blown away. Yes they do take artistic license with some of the nativity story, but the most important aspects are featured so I don't think anyone would say it was heretical. What really captured my attention though was the musical performances. The singers were amazing. The musical score was top notch. As I was watching it other artists and productions came to mind to compare it with. One of the early songs Antonio Banderas sang reminded me of the Imagine Dragon song Believe (it wasn't exactly like it, just gave me that strong hard edge vibe that fit the horrid King well). A song that Mary sang reminded me a little of the film The Greatest Showman. I even got Evita and Yentl vibes. The quality of the performances were that good. If you like musicals you should like this one. And, it doesn't stop there. The cinematography was done well and the production value was high quality. Great costumes, make-up, and set design. I couldn't find how much their budget was, but if it was low you sure couldn't tell it. I hope people give it a chance. The more people who go the longer it will stay in theaters. I might even go again if it doesn't leave theater's too quickly. It's a good family friendly movie, just right for this time of year.

It's a musical, so I had to coerce hubby to go with me to see it. Not twenty minutes into the film and I knew that I wanted the soundtrack.

The music leans Disney, almost like the scores were compiled by a team of individuals from early 2000s Disney payroll.

Expect theatrics, dances, choreography...everything. It's done quite well. Very entertaining. The sets fall someplace between a small-stage theater and a big screen production. Simple script, but good. Well acted. Beautiful cast members, costumes, and settings.

Hubby confessed how much he enjoyed the film, especially the end. And of course, it's clean family fun.

This is a special portrayal based on early existence of Mary and Joseph. A young woman, Mary (Fiona Palomo), carrying an unimaginable responsibility. A young man, Joseph (Milo Manheim) torn between love and honor. A story well known and sacred that starts when birth of Jesus is announced to Mary by Angel Gabriel (Lecreae). Mary learns from the angel Gabriel that she will conceive and bear a child called Jesus. When she asks how this can be, since she is a virgin, he tells her that the Holy Spirit would "come upon her" and that "nothing will be impossible with God". She responds: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word". Meanwhile is also announced future birth of John the Baptist from the old couple Elizabeth and Zechariah. A jealous king, Herod (Antonio Banderas), who will stop at nothing to keep his crown. He is informed by the three wise men: Melchior (Omid Djalili), Gaspar (Rizwan Manji) and Balthazar (Geno Segers) of the birth of a god child. At the time that Mary is due to give birth, she and her husband Joseph travel from their home in Nazareth about 150 kilometres (90 miles) south to Joseph's ancestral home in Bethlehem to register in the census ordered by Herodes the Great . Having found no place for themselves in the inn, Joseph and Mary meet a man who gives the couple a place in his stable. Mary gives birth to Jesus she places the newborn in a manger. Along the way an angel of the Lord visits the shepherds guarding their flocks in nearby fields and brings them "good news of great joy": "to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord." The angel tells them they will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.

This live-action Christmas musical celebration for the entire family, weaves classic Christmas melodies into new pop songs in a music-infused retelling of the timeless story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus. A unique new entry into the collection of holiday classic movies, this epic Christmas musical is unlike any before it.

This agreeable film focuses the Nativity story in a musical style , but also accompanied with beautiful images, as there are shafts of lights , wonderful skies, attractive dances, extraordinary landscapes and adding some hilarious touches. This live-action Christmas musical adventure for the entire family weaves classic Christmas melodies with humor, faith, and new pop songs in a retelling of the greatest story ever told: the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus. Banderas is an evil and singing King Herod in this musical that tells the story of Mary, Joseph and the ship of Jesus in a way that is as traditional as it is modern. However, there are some novelties, here Maria wants to be a teacher, like her father, but in reality in the land of Judah during the time of Caesar Augustus, women can only be wives and mothers. Furthermore, they will not even marry for love, but rather that they have chosen her husband.

Here Antonio Banderas stands out, although sometimes he overacts, and giving an exaggeratedly sympathetic and overly gestural performance as the villain of the show like Herod, who is unconsciously warned by the three wise men, he plans his revenge and the cruel slaughter of the innocent babies. With many songs, and also a lot of humor and a little drama, the film gives a twist to the most important traditional religious story in universal culture. The film turns out to be mediocre with excessive songs and dances regularly staged, without much splendor. And in the foreign versions the dubbing is frankly terrible in such a way that it does not coincide at all with what they speak or sing.

Instead of this uneven film I would recommend another better film dealing with the same sacred facts, and that it was even authorized by the Vatican and seen by Pope John Paul II himself : ¨The Nativity Story¨ (2006) by Catherine Hardwicke with Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary and Oscar Isaac as Joseph.

Something to highlight would be the colorful cinematography from cameraman Xavi Giménez, who has photographed notorious films such as: Red Lights, Libertador, Agora, Marrowbone, Transsiberian , Contratiempo, Palmeras en la nieve, The Machinist and Intacto. Shot in the Almeria outdoors and specifically in El Chorrillo, Pechina, Playa de Monsul, Cabo de Gata, Almería, Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain, all of them giving the impression of the typical landscape stereotypes of Palestine. The motion picture was mediocrely written/produced/directed by Adam Anders (The Prom (2020), Kally's Mashup (2017) and La era del Rock of ages (2012)) and he even composed the music too. Rating: 5.5/10. Average but passable and acceptable.

Adam Anders did a spectacular job with his first film. This movie was an amazing success and quite an amazing musical for the Christmas season. There were a couple of bits of the beginning that were confusing, but overall, it was quite spectacular. The cast performed powerfully and comedic at the same time, especially Milo Manheim and Fiona Palomo. Antonio Banderas was an amazing, creepy, terrifying antagonist that will give you chills. The music was unique, well-written, and beautifully composed. It was a good twist of modern music for something that was set in ancient Israel. The humor was also really great and was perfectly timed. Overall, this was the best musical I've seen since The Greatest Showman and I would recommend people to watch this with their family in December for sure.