Santa Cláusula 2

OK so I admit I thought this was going to be a dud. The first one was sorta clever but a sequel... oh dear. I ended up going to watch it anyway, not entirely by choice.

Well, actually it was pretty good. There were several intertwining plot lines, lots of laughs that weren't all about Tim Allen being fat and falling down, and the kids in the theatre seemed to enjoy it too. So, for what it is (clean family entertainment), it's actually pretty good.

The Santa Clause 2 takes place a number of years after the original film. The first movie saw Tim Allen's character "Scott Calvin" become Santa Claus after the previous Santa Claus fell off of his roof on Christmas Eve. Well in this one Scott has settled in nicely to his role as Mr. Claus, but there is one problem. He has to find a Mrs. Claus in only twenty eight days or Christmas as we know it will be over forever! On top of that major problem, another subplot includes his quest to get his son Charlie off of the naughty list. It seems Charlie has been rebellious as a teenager, spray painting school walls and such. So while Santa/Scott leaves the North Pole to take care of that business, his trusty sidekick elf Bernard and newcomer elf Curtis create a clone Santa to take over on an interim basis. Scott ends up falling for Charlie's principal Carol Newman, and with the use of magic wins over her heart. Meanwhile in the North Pole, the fake Santa that Curtis the elf created ends up becoming a power hungry dictator who believes ALL kids are bad and deserve only lumps of coal for Christmas. It's up to Scott to defeat him and save Christmas.

The Santa Clause 2 is not nearly as good as the first film. While the whole idea of Santa may be absurd to many people, this film has so much more unrealistic things occur in it that it lost my interest. For example, Scott's ability to snag a wife in under a month? It's completely ridiculous but I guess had to be done to wrap up the movie very nicely. And all of the magic that he uses to make Carol fall for him goes completely unnoticed by her character, such as a mistletoe and twenty presents appearing out of nowhere. She just brushes it off. I also did not like that the major characters from the first film (Scott's ex wife Laura and her husband Neil) took a back seat in this film for the overly annoying young elf Curtis. It lost the magic and heart that the first movie had.

There were some good moments in this of course. Tim Allen had some great comedic moments, especially when he ditches the Santa suit and acts like a regular person. I like him better as Scott Calvin than I do as Santa Claus. He and Carol have a good combative chemistry that turns sweet once we start to see the human side of her. And the scenes when Scott uses magic to give all the teachers toys that they loved from their childhoods really was a good piece. It just wasn't as good as the original. I thought it was ridiculous that he had to find a wife in one month. And considering that was the major obstacle in this film for the main character to overcome, I wasn't really engaged in it.

Children will love this movie (I know I did years ago), and that's really all that matters with a Christmas movie. But as an adult looking for a good holiday film, this one fell flat up against others such as Home Alone 1/2, Christmas Vacation and even the first Santa Clause.

6/10

The Santa Clause 2 (2002) D: Michael Lembeck. Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Eric Lloyd, David Krumholtz, Elizabeth Mitchell, Peter Boyle, Michael Dorn. 8 years after Scott Calvin became Santa Claus, his son Charlie has appeared on the infamous `naughty list,' prompting Scott to go back home to take care of the situation. He leaves a toy clone of himself in charge of the North Pole, which leads to mayhem when the clone becomes a dictator. Also, Scott has to get married or Christmas will be lost forever and he will cease to be Santa Claus. Got this so far? Too many plots for a kids film, and not as good as the original, but still entertaining. Reinhold and Crewson are wasted with very little screen time. RATING: 6 out of 10. Rated G.

OK, so it's not quite as good as the first, but this really captures the Christmas spirit...I saw it in a theatre with a load of little kids who laughed and cheered right through. Everyone who came out of the theatre had a big smile on their face at the end, even the Mums, Dads, and GrandParents!

Tim Allen does a good job (again) as Santa, and there are plenty of nice in-jokes in there - Allen wearing a flannel shirt (remind anyone of Al Borland), and of course all the car references...and there are also some movie homages in there - did the duplicator machine remind anyone else of Bride Of Frankenstein!?

The first 15-20 minutes are a little slow but once Allen returns to America the film really begins to pick up. Good support cast too - Elizabeth Mitchell is beautiful! Reinhold does well but does not have quite enough screen time.

Some of the scenes really do capture the magic of Christmas - witness the Teacher's Xmas party for example.

Basically, if you want a good family film to put you in the Christmas spirit, you could do far worse than see this. 8/10.

Let me just say I liked all the Santa Clause movies in their own right. This is a decent sequel to an amiable first film, that is good spirited, fun and sweet. It is not the best Christmas movie out there, but it doesn't try to be. If the kids get past the rather thin plot, and that the script isn't always particularly groundbreaking or new, they are in for a festive for a treat, adults too. However, it has a very good message, and it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

The soundtrack is also lovely to the ears and the look of the film is nice. I don't know about you guys, but like the first film I felt good while watching this movie, and for me that is a good thing. The performances are very good, Tim Allen as always is very likable and completely watchable. And the supporting characters like Cupid and Father Time are so cute a movie of their own would suit them perfectly.

All in all, a nice movie. Not groundbreaking, but a pleasant Christmas diversion, and as far as sequels go, I personally think it's one of the better ones. 7/10 Bethany Cox