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Canada · 2015
Rated PG · 1h 24m
Director Jean-François Pouliot, François Brisson
Starring Mariloup Wolfe, Sophie Cadieux, Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc, Nicholas Savard-L'Herbier
Genre Animation, Comedy, Family
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To keep themselves amused during winter break, a group of kids decides to have a massive snowball fight. Luke and Sophie become the leaders of the opposing sides, who must occupy the enemy’s fort by the end of the break. But can the kids keep their competitive natures from causing a more serious conflict?
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Brad Wheeler
The colourful film of course is allegorical: Peace is tough and tedious; war is an easy solution. And while the kids’ enthusiasm for battle wanes, pint-sized audiences will likely remain engaged.
Los Angeles Times by Charles Solomon
Directors Jean-François Pouliot and François Brisson fail to organize the material into a coherent story or strike a consistent emotional tone.
Washington Post by Michael O'Sullivan
A startlingly inappropriate tragedy in the final act drives home the film’s pacifist message, while virtually ensuring that the youngest and most sensitive viewers will be left in a puddle of tears.
The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo
Dialogue is witless (though at least there are no pop-culture references), and the kids are all generic types with pre-packaged personalities.
Chicago Sun-Times by Miriam Di Nunzio
Sophisticated in its look and feel on the one hand (the warm hues and tones evoke a warmth that defies the wintry cold), it’s almost too retro for its own good on the other.
The New York Times by Neil Genzlinger
It is aimed at younger children and includes pretty songs, but it doesn’t soft-pedal anything. Its low-key story is about friendship, but it’s also about loss, which should leave pint-size viewers with plenty to think about.
Covering the emotional spectrum between dog farts on one end and tragedy on the other reps a tonal challenge that Showtime! can’t pull off, despite a gentler touch than most kiddie fare of its kind.
The Hollywood Reporter by Sheri Linden
Though the story’s midsection, with its shifting alliances and reversals, feels distended, the movie offers well-defined characters and an inventive sense of earthbound fun, as well as poignant moments.
The Seattle Times by Soren Andersen
Snowtime! is by turns ribald (there’s a flatulent dog), boisterous (there’s charging through the snow with wooden swords wildly waved), tender (there’s a boy grieving quietly for a father killed in a real war) and, yes, tragic.
Despite a few diverting moments and some ambitiously dramatic themes, this one is simply too uneventful and too populated by thinly sketched characters to keep its target audience engaged.
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