Golden Winter (2012)
1/10
Pure trash, worse than I could have imagined.
6 December 2021
No. NO.

The premise sounds cheesy but endearing. It starts promisingly, but as soon as the opening credits finish and the movie begins in earnest, it's all downhill from there.

Extremely dubious voice work is one matter, to say nothing of as many bad jokes and puns as can be stuffed into every passing minute. Even at that, there's potential for mild fun in a movie that mostly revolves around letting several golden retriever puppies just play and run around. However, the fact that this Christmas movie is produced by The Asylum should (key word) communicate everything you need to know about 'Golden winter.'

We're subjected to abhorrently inauthentic dialogue, and a decided lack of effort or ability from everyone in the cast. Characters are almost entirely bereft of any intelligence. Chris Ridenhour's music is wholly bland, and the song contributed by Laura Tuny sounds as plastic and fake as any special effects in Asylum features. These complement an incredulously blasé story without a single original idea. There's no greater example that immediately comes to mind of a movie you can "watch" without meaningfully engaging with it - though I'm unsure why you would want to do even that.

In fact, simply having it on in the background may be the ideal way to "enjoy" 'Golden winter,' because to actively pay attention to this could be considered an act of self-harm. As awful as every element of the movie is - writing, direction, acting, music - most atrocious of all is the CGI that litters the film from the very beginning. Its purpose: animating animals' mouths to poorly and halfheartedly mimic human speech patterns.

Everyone who contributed to this abomination should be plainly ashamed of themselves, and that goes not least of all for its "stars," Shannon Elizabeth and Haylie Duff, who above all should know better. I can't imagine that even the youngest of possible viewers could find this entertaining: I remember watching a few films as a child that were so ungenuine and unfunny that I was embarrassed to watch them with my parents, and none of those were half as terrible as this. Any miniscule passing value that the picture may have to offer is overwhelmed and subsumed by utterly rotten craft.

There is no reason whatsoever to watch this movie, under any circumstances. Whatever it is you were looking for, to have thusly stumbled across this - spend a few extra minutes searching, and you'll find a couple dozen movies that are far more worth your time. I began watching with no foreknowledge and mixed but positive expectations, and I'm aghast at what I just sat through. 'Golden winter' is a horrid waste of 90 minutes; no one should ever watch this, and streaming services that host it owe us all a massive apology.

What garbage.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed