Review of 'The Santa Clause 2'

2nd film in the 'Santa Clause' series

santa_clause_2.jpg After the events of the film film (The Santa Clause) we find the new Santa (Tim Allen), Scott Calvin, hard at work at the North Pole preparing for Christmas when just day before the holiday he is informed that he must marry before the big day otherwise he will be Santa no longer. Meanwhile, Scott's son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) is having a hard time coming to terms with his father being Santa, rebelling against a rather stern principal at his school, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell) who shuns Christmas. Forced to leave the north pole to help with his son (and find a wife), head elf Bernard (David Krumholtz) and number two elf Curtis (Spencer Breslin) create a plastic duplicate of Santa to cover while he is gone. As Scott/Santa struggles with his family and love life the plastic duplicate wrecks havoc at the North Pole threatening to send coal to every child…Can Scott save the day? Can he find a wife in time? Can he help straighten out his son?

After the first movie this film is very much a by-the-numbers sequel with little in the way of surprising plot twists. There is a lot more action and story here with two parallel plots happening at the same time but all resolves itself as you might expect. The end of the film feels rushed with everything being wrapped up very quickly compared to the slow pace of the preceding hour or so. Having said that, there are a lot of nice comedic touches such as the inept reindeer that proves to be a great help in the later parts of the film and the dynamics between head elf Bernard and number two elf Curtis. The special effects have somewhat improved from the first film and there is a lot more of them here.

The cast here are really good with Allen and Mitchell having a good relationship on the screen. Ex-wife Lauara Miller (Wendy Crewson) and husband Neil (Judge Reinhold) return now as committed supporters of Calvin having been the protagonists in the first outing which seems a bit disappointing and add no tension at all to the plot which focuses squarely on the “will he/won't he do it” plot line. Even Mitchel's take on the hard-nosed principal Carol turns out to be a bit of a damp squib.

Ultimately disappointing but still has a bunch of laughs, just not quite as entertaining as the first film. Children will love it and adults will find entertainment as well.

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2021-01-16


Directed by: Michael Lembeck

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Year: 2002

Length: 104 minutes

Genre: Comedy

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304669/


Other reviewed films in the 'Santa Clause' series:

Other reviewed films by Michael Lembeck: