Hyper Noël

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.

Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) has been Santa for awhile, but only now is he told that there is more Santa Clause. He must marry a Mrs Claus before Christmas eve. In addition, his son Charlie has landed on the Naughty List. He decides to go south and leave a substitute Santa in his place. While he falls for Charlie's principal Carol Newman (Elizabeth Mitchell), the substitute Santa stirs up trouble and puts every child on the Naughty List.

This still has some of the original charm. Most of it comes from Carol slowly finding out Scott is actually Santa. Charlie's complaint about his father is less convincing. I don't think the secret is that big of a deal. It feels very fake. I rather not have an excuse for his misbehaving. There is a good lesson to be had there, but it ends rather weakly. It's a missed learning opportunity. Besides that, the movie is good family fun.

It's been quite a while since I've seen the first Santa Clause movie, but I remember being quite surprised by it. It was a unique twist on the beloved Santa character with great comic timing by Tim Allen. But that was a while ago, and I didn't really know what to expect from The Santa Clause 2.

The movie started off kind of slow when everything is going smoothly. Everybody's happy and Santa's meeting with his fellow "legendary figures," which I admit was a fairly funny scene, but this movie just started off kind of boring. Of course this is normal with any movie until we're presented with a conflict. Santa is reverting back to his civilian self and must find a Mrs. Clause to fulfill the contract and continue being Santa. So to watch over the North Pole, a duplicate, plastic Santa clone is made, and slowly turns to a maniacal boss over his elves. I thought this was pretty funny, especially with me being a business major. I wonder if I'll act like that after school!

Anyways, back to the story, Santa goes back to his hometown with limited magic. We're introduced to a frigid principal that has punished Santa's son for displaying some Christmas spirit. More fun ensues as Santa tries to find and woo the next Mrs. Clause. To seal the deal, his Santa magic gives him the edge and results in some very nice scenes of the movie.

I won't go any further as you get the idea. Overall, The Santa Clause 2 is a nice, snuggly movie that will keep you in the holiday spirit. It's not groundbreaking material, but it has a nice message and should put a smile on anyone's face.

My IMDb Rating: 7/10. My Yahoo! Grade: B (Good)

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

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.