Feature Review | The Santa Clause 2
Written by: Brian Orndorf

Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) has been enjoying his life as Santa Claus for the last eight years without incident. But the elves have neglected to mention something about the Santa contract he undertook in 1994. It seems that to remain as Mr. Claus, he’ll need a Mrs. Claus as well. Forced to leave the North Pole during his busy time of year, Scott returns to the home of his ex-wife (Wendy Crewson, “Air Force One“) and his now troubled teenage son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd), to find a spouse before Christmas, leaving a life-sized robotic Santa in his place to run the toy sweatshop. When Scott is thrown together with Charlie’s concerned junior high principal, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell, “Frequency,” and more beautiful than any junior high principal I’ve ever seen), sparks fly, but does he have enough time to woo her before Christmas is ruined for the year?

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think they could do it. I mean, come on, 8 years have passed since the original “Santa Clause” charmed audiences back in 1994, and the long wait in between films has allowed an entire generation of fans to grow up, and out, of this whimsical tale. It’s a dangerous practice to delay this long. Just look at box office receipts for the 15-years-later “Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles” for proof of this. “Clause 2” is credited to 5 writers, so that explains part of the delay, and this team has manufactured something rare in a sequel: a reason to be. The story arc of “Clause 2” is entertaining, smacks of originality, and while it features some slight rehash, it never is performed or directed that way. It’s a defiantly bright and bubbly sequel, where all signs were pointing to disaster.

I’ll even forgive a gratuitous and borderline insulting flatulence joke placed in the picture. A kid’s film crutch, “Clause 2” doesn’t need this type of buzz kill, but it manages to survive it where so many previous movies have fallen to their death.

If there’s anything lacking from “Clause 2” that I truly missed, it would be its big, fat juicy heart. “Clause” violently grabbed on to many heartstrings, and it completely swept me up. “Clause 2” tries here and there to find poignancy and warmth, but these moments fail as the story is more adventure and comedy oriented. Like its predecessor, there is a scene in “Clause 2” where Scott bestows treasured childhood gifts on to stuffy adults to loosen them up. Tapping into that stream of regret and innocence lost is where both “Clauses” run on premium octane. But that is where the heart stops in “Clause 2,” with other moments involving Scott’s courtship of Carol, and his troubled relationship with his son Charlie, failing to matter in the overall scheme of things. These moments feel forced, even with dedicated performances to sell them.

And speaking of performances, isn’t it great to have a funny and ingratiating Tim Allen back on the big screen? Excluding his modest work in the hilarious “Big Trouble,” Allen has had a hard time recently, appearing in such duds as “Joe Somebody” and “Who Is Cletis Tout?” “Santa Clause 2” allows Allen to return to arguably his best role, making the most of his comedy and rather deadpan sentiment. He has a terrific cast to play off him as well, including a returning David Krumholtz as head elf Bernard, 10 year-old Spencer Breslin as 900 year-old elf Curtis (and what a peculiar child actor this kid is!), a luminous Elizabeth Mitchell as the object of Scott’s desire, and even Allen himself in the dual role of Bad Robot Santa/Good Santa. Everybody seems to be having a lot of fun with these roles, and the film shows a rare amount from merriment from the cast.

I’m not really hoping for a third go around with this tale, but as long-delayed second helpings go, this is one of the better sequels to come out.

Grade: 8 out of 10