Metacritic reviews

If watching “A Christmas Story” is a part of your annual holiday ritual, you might want to make time to catch the sequel. It’ll make for a warm double helping of Christmas nostalgia.

The result is something that, while never reaching the ineffable magic of Clark’s film, ends up in solidly entertaining, if slightly disjointed, holiday territory.

After fits and stops, this sequel finds its nostalgic sweet spot midway through and lands an ending that feels earned and honors the spirit of Shepherd and the characters of A Christmas Story.

Fans of A Christmas Story, and those simply in the mood for a holiday flick, will enjoy A Christmas Story Christmas for the light, nicely touching tale that it is in its own right, without the pressure of having to be as perfect as something as legendary as the leg lamp.

While it spends perhaps too much of its running time either recreating or directly quoting moments from its 1983 predecessor, it still manages to land some new and original gags of its own.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard A Christmas Story Christmas tries to replicate what audiences loved about the original, it can't help but feel overshadowed by the legacy of nostalgia that the 1983 classic inspires.

A Christmas Story Christmas is like “A Christmas Story” with a softer center, but at least it doesn’t leave you feeling like you’ve had a glass of eggnog spiked with Long Island Iced Tea.

It’s not a sequel; it’s a replica. And while that might bring some comfort and joy during the holiday season, wouldn’t you rather savor the real thing?

Like its predecessor, it is enjoyably episodic, jumping from one comic vignette to another. Some of these connect, while others land with a thud. But so it goes with Christmas. Not every present is a winner.

Mostly it made me want to watch the original, which, as always, remains well worth revisiting.