I adored The Nine Lives of Christmas. So, I was curious when I heard this movie was going to have a sequel. Unfortunately, The Nine Kittens of Christmas doesn't have the same charm and endearing romantic element that its predecessor has in spades.
Mainly, there's a lot of backtracking in the storytelling - specifically with the character growth of the leads, especially the hero (Zach). Also, the beautiful ending in The Nine Lives of Christmas is basically cancelled out. In the sequel, we essentially discover that the leads broke up and were apart for 5 years, and even in the years Marilee and Zach were dating, Zach's commitment phobia was still present and his spirit of taking a leap of faith and fighting for his love with Marilee has evaporated (which is completely contrary to the prior movie's ending). This backtracking might have allowed the writers to build and create conflict for this movie. However, it also created an uphill battle from audience disappointment about where/how we find the leads and how the character, the hero, we knew then has regressed.
There was also a minor continuity issue, which could fall into this category. In The Nine Lives of Christmas, Sam, the fire chief, said he couldn't adopt Ambrose the cat because his wife, Harriet, is allergic. In The Nine Kittens of Christmas, Sam's wife, Harriet, insists that they adopt two kittens and even implies that they used to have cats in their house before then. This one was a minor, confusing flaw, but it made me wonder about the effort in the writing.
Overall, The Nine Kittens of Christmas couldn't measure up to the expectations and the quality and charm of the original.
Mainly, there's a lot of backtracking in the storytelling - specifically with the character growth of the leads, especially the hero (Zach). Also, the beautiful ending in The Nine Lives of Christmas is basically cancelled out. In the sequel, we essentially discover that the leads broke up and were apart for 5 years, and even in the years Marilee and Zach were dating, Zach's commitment phobia was still present and his spirit of taking a leap of faith and fighting for his love with Marilee has evaporated (which is completely contrary to the prior movie's ending). This backtracking might have allowed the writers to build and create conflict for this movie. However, it also created an uphill battle from audience disappointment about where/how we find the leads and how the character, the hero, we knew then has regressed.
There was also a minor continuity issue, which could fall into this category. In The Nine Lives of Christmas, Sam, the fire chief, said he couldn't adopt Ambrose the cat because his wife, Harriet, is allergic. In The Nine Kittens of Christmas, Sam's wife, Harriet, insists that they adopt two kittens and even implies that they used to have cats in their house before then. This one was a minor, confusing flaw, but it made me wonder about the effort in the writing.
Overall, The Nine Kittens of Christmas couldn't measure up to the expectations and the quality and charm of the original.