In the mood for a
nice, feel-good family movie to escape from the gratuitous sex
and violence? "The Santa Clause 2" should be
the perfect movie for you.
In
this charming sequel, Scott Calvin--who is now the Santa
Clause--discovers that he overlooked one agreement in his
contract: he must get married. There's only three
days left until Christmas Eve, which is his deadline for
finding Mrs. Clause. But in order to begin his search,
he must leave the North Pole. That's when one of his
trusty elves designs a clone of him, who looks just like Jolly
Old Saint Nick--only plastic.
Once
out of the North Pole, Santa meets up with his ex-wife and
son, who was slapped on the "Naughty" list.
His son has been getting into trouble in school for
vandalizing property, trying to get revenge on his uptight
principal. Santa talks to the principal himself, and she
doesn't seem to like him any more than his son. That is
until...they get to know each other better. That's when
he finds out that this seemingly uptight principal has a sweet
side and is really a kid at heart. Of course, sparks fly
between the two of them.
The
problem is time is continuing to wind down, and as he loses
more and more time, Santa starts to lose his beard, his fat
stomach and comes close to becoming his old self, Scott
Calvin. Meanwhile, in the North Pole, Santa's clone
becomes so by-the-book that he puts every child on the
"Naughty" list and plans to stuff coal in all their
stockings. Now, Santa must get married and save
Christmas before time runs out!
There's a good deal of children's movies out there, and a good
deal of them are strictly for the children. This time,
don't be scared off by the G-rating. Trust me, parents.
This is great fun for the whole entire family! There are
even witty gags that seem aimed towards the adult
audience. For example, in one scene, Santa has a meeting
with the Tooth Fairy, Cupid and Father Time in order to decide
whether or not the Tooth Fairy should be granted a name
change. I found that scene both hilarious and
delightfully original, like many other scenes in the film.
I
didn't enjoy this "quite" as much as the
original "Santa Clause," but it's definitely
worth seeing. The first movie was a little bit better,
because of its fish-out-of-water humor and more
wisecracks from Tim Allen (being that he was in the peak of
his "Home Improvement" fame). Plus, you can't
beat the scene where Tim Allen burns the turkey and him and
his son end up eating at Denny's.
Sure,
the plot is predictable. But for a film like this, a
predictable plot is pretty much appropriate. It's a
feel-good comedy that makes you feel good, and makes you laugh
as well (that's almost guaranteed with Tim Allen in the cast).
I walked out the theater with a big smile, and not because it
was over--like in the case of some movies I've watched in the
past.
"The
Santa Clause 2" is an extremely amiable charmer that
is nearly impossible to hate. It would be even more
appropriate if it were released around Christmas time, but
it'll help you kick off your Thanksgiving with a smile.
