The Santa Clause 2
Year: 2002
Directed by: Michael Lembeck
Starring: Tim Allen, Spencer Breslin, Eric Lloyd & Elizabeth Mitchell
Runtime: 104 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 23/12/20
Directed by: Michael Lembeck
Starring: Tim Allen, Spencer Breslin, Eric Lloyd & Elizabeth Mitchell
Runtime: 104 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 23/12/20
Unlike the original Santa Clause film, I didn’t watch either sequel when I was younger but instead was exposed to them just a couple of years ago. I was surprised to find out that it took eight years for The Santa Clause 2 to be made considering just how good the first film is. But I can certainly say that the big gap between films does allow for some great character development and an interesting new story to be developed for our contractually obliged Santa.
Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) has been Santa for eight years and has been doing a pretty good job of it. However, he gets a double whammy of bad news when he is informed that his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) has made it onto the naughty list this year after repeated vandalism at school. As well as this Scott is informed of a hidden clause in his contractual agreement, that if he doesn’t get married by the night of Christmas Eve, he will cease to be Santa. So, Scott returns to America, leaving in charge a toy Santa programmed to do his job until he returns, in order to try and reconnect with Charlie and find a Mrs. Claus.
The line of thinking goes that a sequel should have double of everything the first had, and whilst in some respects that may be true in Santa Clause 2 it does cause a small problem in that the film has two storylines. One story of Scott Calvin, his family and his dating life; and another of the toy Santa left behind at the North Pole to run the place. The toy Santa’s story is just not particularly interesting and without a doubt the weakest part of the film. I do find it surprising that Disney had the balls to make Santa a Nazi, complete with the uniform and everything. Toy Santa is an extremely grating character because it’s basically just Tim Allen shouting all the time about how much he loves hot coco and how all the children in the world are naughty and will get coal for Christmas. Whilst this storyline could have had potential, I almost feel like it needed its own separate film and a real dedication as to how to make the character and conflict interesting.
Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) has been Santa for eight years and has been doing a pretty good job of it. However, he gets a double whammy of bad news when he is informed that his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) has made it onto the naughty list this year after repeated vandalism at school. As well as this Scott is informed of a hidden clause in his contractual agreement, that if he doesn’t get married by the night of Christmas Eve, he will cease to be Santa. So, Scott returns to America, leaving in charge a toy Santa programmed to do his job until he returns, in order to try and reconnect with Charlie and find a Mrs. Claus.
The line of thinking goes that a sequel should have double of everything the first had, and whilst in some respects that may be true in Santa Clause 2 it does cause a small problem in that the film has two storylines. One story of Scott Calvin, his family and his dating life; and another of the toy Santa left behind at the North Pole to run the place. The toy Santa’s story is just not particularly interesting and without a doubt the weakest part of the film. I do find it surprising that Disney had the balls to make Santa a Nazi, complete with the uniform and everything. Toy Santa is an extremely grating character because it’s basically just Tim Allen shouting all the time about how much he loves hot coco and how all the children in the world are naughty and will get coal for Christmas. Whilst this storyline could have had potential, I almost feel like it needed its own separate film and a real dedication as to how to make the character and conflict interesting.
Meanwhile regarding Scott Calvin, this story is almost as strong as that of the first films. The idea that Charlie is acting out because he barely gets to spend time with his dad, and on top of that he never gets the opportunity to talk about his dad because he has to keep Santa’s identity secret is pretty clever. I also enjoy the re-introduction of the tension between Scott and Neal (Judge Reinhold) over how Charlie should be parented. But the most interesting character this time around is Principal Carol Newman (Elizabeth Mitchell). Not only is she dealing with Charlie’s poor behaviour at school (and getting understandably frustrated with Charlie’s parents over why they don’t appear to be disciplining him properly), but she also becomes the apple of Scott’s eye regarding the Mrs. Claus problem. The scenes where these two get to know each other are among the best in the film and once again bring Allen’s fully comedy range out to shine, but what I really like about Mitchell’s performance is that she is such a great comedy partner to Allen that when they jokes start flying, they start coming from all over and not just from Allen this time around.
The climax of the film feels very underwhelming though as Carol sees one magic event and then simply believes Scott’s outrageous story of him being Santa. Then they race back to the North Pole to stop Nazi-Santa from ruining Christmas, free all the elves from prison and then engage in battle with Toy Santa’s tin soldier army. It does feel a little bit out of place in the grand scheme of the film and feels as though the filmmakers didn’t think the film was going to be interesting for kids so decided to have an action scene in there to keep them quiet.
So, whilst The Santa Clause 2 isn’t quite as good as the first outing, its strengths are arguably stronger than the original film and it is only held back by some blunders made by the side-plot. On the whole The Santa Clause 2 is a very enjoyable Christmas film that I would recommend to anyone in need of some Christmas cheer.
The climax of the film feels very underwhelming though as Carol sees one magic event and then simply believes Scott’s outrageous story of him being Santa. Then they race back to the North Pole to stop Nazi-Santa from ruining Christmas, free all the elves from prison and then engage in battle with Toy Santa’s tin soldier army. It does feel a little bit out of place in the grand scheme of the film and feels as though the filmmakers didn’t think the film was going to be interesting for kids so decided to have an action scene in there to keep them quiet.
So, whilst The Santa Clause 2 isn’t quite as good as the first outing, its strengths are arguably stronger than the original film and it is only held back by some blunders made by the side-plot. On the whole The Santa Clause 2 is a very enjoyable Christmas film that I would recommend to anyone in need of some Christmas cheer.