What happens if a businessman puts on Santa’s outfit and he slowly transforms into jolly ol’ Saint Nick himself? The High Concept/What If Scenario I’m referring to, is The Premise from Disney’s The Santa Clause.
The Santa Clause was released in 1994. (same year Stranger Things co-stars, Charlie Heaton & Dacre Montgomery were born) The film received positive reviews from critics and movie goers alike. Plus it made enough revenue at the box office. The Santa Clause is notable for Tim Allen’s first leading role in a film, even though he’s known as a television star in Home Improvement and stand-up comedian, his movie was a tremendous payoff. The Santa Clause spawned a trilogy with two sequels released in 2002, and 2006.
This article doesn’t contain any SPOILERS whatsoever. Which means you are allowed to read this review, just in case if you never ever ever seen The Santa Clause. Does it still hold up? Let’s find out shall we?
Nice & Naughty Elements
Nice: Tim Allen did a great job on his performance as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus.
Other Cast Members such as Judge Reinhold, Eric Lloyd, David Krumholtz & Peter Boyle, all did a good job on their respective performances.
The Humor has some elements of suitable jokes. A fart scene made me laugh uncontrollably without appealing to the Lowest Common Denominator. (L.C.D. for short)
The High Concept/What If Scenario, involving the mythology of Santa Claus, is somewhat similar to Green Lantern’s origin story. Remember Hal Jordan who acquired the ring from a dying member of The Green Lantern Corps? It’s ripping off DC, it’s more of a tribute to the character.
Santa’s elves are depicted as children, rather than adult workers from other depictions of Christmas related films. Thank goodness the elf children weren’t annoying like Jamie Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace.
Character Development involving Scott’s physical and mental transformation as Santa Claus. He goes from a snarky cynic who doesn’t believe in the meaning of Christmas, to a kind hearted jolly ol’ Saint Nick.
Cinematography looked spot on decent without suffering from any technical problems.
Prosthetic Makeup was heavily applied to Tim, by constructing a fat suit. Tim stated that he hated wearing all that makeup, because it gave him a rash. Must’ve been be irritating, but it was worth a paycheck.
Scott mentioned the cable company, he thinks they delivered the reindeer as a gift that they’re about to get The Disney Channel. Disney, who produced this movie, gave a wink to us audience members.
Disney unexpectedly made a “60’s” joke. I’ll give you a hint, it has something to do with Tim Allen’s biggest regret, prior to redeeming himself as an established actor. Don’t believe me, look it up, you’ll be shocked. I’ll give this an Extra Point for making me laugh so hard. Very sneaky Tim, but remember you’ll never live it down prior to redeeming yourself in Show Biz.
The North Pole HQ, is an entire Set Piece, hand made by set decorators. Somebody give the set decorators a Christmas Bonus for all that hard work on constructing a fully detailed set. This wasn’t made entirely with C.G.I.
ZZ Top’s, “Gimme All Your Lovin” is played during a Montage Sequence intercutting between Scott/Santa gearing up while authorities arrest random Santas.
A scene with North Pole Elves leaving The North Pole by using their jetpacks. Is it me, or did Robert Rodriguez came up with a scene from Spy Kids when Carmen & Juni flee from their enemies by using jetpacks? Robbie if you’re reading this, I demand answers immediately!
Naughty: Similar to Jingle All The Way, the lead character is a workaholic. Does every family film have an unhealthy obsession involving a workaholic protagonist?
Product Placement featuring the following brands such as, Denny’s, and Sony. I’ll give this con a pass, because I couldn’t find any other brand to shove down my throat.
The Final Verdict: A-
In my opinion, The Santa Clause still holds up as a sweet yet timeless Christmas classic and I still watch it every December. If I were you, I highly recommend this movie by gathering your family members as a way of spending time with your kids, nephews, nieces, or grandkids during the holidays. Trust me, they’ll like it.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 