My Movie Review on The Santa Clause 2 (Plus, a Bonus) · 11:01pm Dec 7th, 2022
Merry Christmas, my friends.
This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for the 1st installment of this year's "Christmas Craze", and for my 282nd film analysis, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "The Santa Clause 2".
Here's the rundown of this sequel:
It's been 8 years since Scott Calvin became the new Santa Clause, and Christmas has thrived under his leadership.
However, when Scott discovers that his son, Charlie, is on the Naughty List, he realizes that the only way he can find out why is to have a little family reunion with him. As if he doesn't have enough problems on his mind, Scott also needs to find a wife by Christmas Eve in order to fill out the "Mrs. Clause" part of the contract, otherwise he can't be Santa anymore. Literally.
Can Scott solve these personal problems of his before Christmas arrives? Or will he have to go back to being a regular human being forever?
It's hard to believe, really. Nearly three years since I reviewed the first Santa Clause movie starring Tim Allen, I'm giving an analysis of the second film in the trilogy. Time seems to fly really fast when you're reviewing stuff, doesn't it?
I originally planned on reviewing a sequel to another movie I reviewed, but with the Christmas season here, I found myself wanting to review something Christmas-related instead. "The Santa Clause 2" is one out of several sequels that I've been planning to analyze for a long time but often put off doing so in favor of other things. Since there weren't too many Christmas movies on my list, though, I've been able to easily squeeze this one in.
My family and I had a DVD copy of this movie since I was a kid, so I didn't have to rent it from anywhere or go to Disney+ to watch it. In spite of this, I never watched the movie as frequently during the holidays as the first film, although I do remember enjoying it whenever I gave it a gander. In preparation for reviewing the film, I watched it two times recently just to get my brain going for the task.
Speaking from a retrospective standpoint, I really must say that I found "The Santa Clause 2" to be more fun than I remembered it being! I mean, yes, it may not be as good as its predecessor, but as a sequel to the original...it brilliantly succeeded as such.
For instance, the direction by Michael Lembeck, the story by Leo Benevuti and Steve Rudnick, and the screenplay by Don Rhymer, Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul, Ed Decter, and John J. Strauss, were fantastic.
Considering how many writers were involved in this project, most people would probably think that the movie would have a disorganized and overstuffed plot. But, that's actually not the case with this movie. Somehow, Michael Lembeck was able to combine the drafts of all three screenwriting teams and transform their works into a cohesive story, and the way he balanced the trio of subplots and got everything to come together in the end showed that he was truly wanting to make a great impression in his directorial debut.
His abilities with comedy were very top-notch, because I can't recall a single moment that didn't make me laugh! The emotional and heartfelt moments were well-done too, especially to where I felt my soul getting tugged in the best way. Plus, there was incredibly snappy dialogue throughout the movie, each quote becoming an instantly fun one-liner.
The acting, characters, and character development were awesome as well.
I'm not sure how many people will agree with me on this, but Tim Allen rocked the house in his reprisal of Scott Calvin/Santa Clause. I noted that Allen captured the character's overall personality and sense of humor while incorporating something new, which perfectly reflected Scott's development from the previous film. His comedic-timings were even more hysterical than before, and he gave Scott a greater amount of depth and love too. Scott himself had terrific development throughout the movie.
On top of this, Allen did a great job portraying Toy Santa. Granted, there were some moments revolving around the character that seemed cringy in some ways, but I loved how the filmmakers were able to develop Toy Santa into a fully-realized and three-dimensional antagonist as the film progressed.
Other things I found to be enjoyable was the improved characterizations of Charlie, Laura, and Neil. Each of them were a lot more likable in this sequel compared to its predecessor, and Eric Lloyd, Wendy Crewson, and Judge Reinhold were splendid in their reprisals. Charlie in particular was the most developed of the three.
The rest of the new characters, and the new cast members, were terrific as well.
As an honorable mention, I'd like to say that the Council of Legendary Figures proved to be great additions to the franchise, and each of the performers portraying their respective parts instantly commanded the screen in the best way. Art LaFleur was a definite scene-stealer in the role of Tooth Fairy, I'll tell you guys that. Laura and Neil's biological daughter, Lucy, was also a lovable presence. She carried tremendous innocence that perfectly reflected her age, and Liliana Mumy was amazing in the role.
But, if I were to choose which new cast member and character I enjoyed the most, it'd be Elizabeth Mitchell and her character of Carol Newman. Mitchell portrayed the part of Carol with a depth that most would likely not expect, and she gave her character a sense of humor and personality that was greatly genuine and could easily go toe-to-toe with Scott Calvin. Carol's chemistry with Scott, and her overall development throughout the movie, made her all-the-more lovable and fully-realized as a character.
In conclusion, "The Santa Clause 2" is a spectacular sequel, and perhaps one of the most underrated. Its storytelling and direction is inspired, the acting was superb, everything!
So, I rate "The Santa Clause 2" five out of five stars.
Before I conclude this post, I'd like to share with you guys the final original painting I created this year:
So, what do you guys think? Of this review? And my painting?
Certainly better than 3 the only thing good about that was the baby. Sorry but the I wish I never been born theme is overdone. Never did understand why Charlie was upset. He knows how the Santa deal works. What does he expect?
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Funny thing.
I initially considered reviewing the third Santa Clause film this year too, but I changed my mind. Something about doing so straight after reviewing this one didn’t feel right to me.
This and the first movie were such a joy to watch.
My only complaint with 2 was the idea that no one bothered to tell Scott for years about the 'Mrs Clause'. Did Scott himself not know about the idea Santa was married?