Eight years after the release of The Santa Clause, Disney released a teaser trailer called “The Santa Clause 2,” with Tim Allen reprising his role as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus. The Basic Premise is about Scott, finally accepting his role as Santa Claus, until one day, he begins to show signs of slowly reverting back to his old self. As part of the titular contract, if he doesn’t get married until Christmas Eve, he’ll loose all his magic permanently.
The Santa Clause 2 was released in 2002. Unlike the first film, it received mixed reviews from critics. Similar to it’s predecessor, the second entry continues to air on television every December. Four years later, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, is the final entry of The Santa Clause Trilogy.
The following review doesn’t contain any SPOILERS. You’re ok to read this non-spoiler article, in case you’ve never seen it.
Nice & Naughty Elements
Nice: Once again, Tim Allen did a great job on his performance as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus & Robo-Santa, his robotic counterpart.
Other Cast Members such as David Krumholtz, Judge Reinhold, Spencer Breslin & Peter Boyle all did a good job on their respective performances.
Fun Fact: Tim & Spencer, went on to co-star in that disastrous remake called, “The Shaggy Dog,” “Zoom,” which is an “X-Men” rip-off and “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.”
Robo-Santa has got to be my favorite character in this movie. I’m totally on his side on why he refuses to give naughty kids presents. He made me laugh whenever he wrecks havoc at The North Pole. By the way, Robo-Santa is based on Futurama’s Santa Claus. Robo-Santa deserves Bonus Points for saving the film.
A scene with Scott/Santa having a meeting with other holiday figures, (excluding Jack Frost) predicted “Rise Of The Guardians.” A film about a group of holiday icons who join forces to battle an evil entity.
Cinematography looks good without any technical problems present throughout.
Opening Scene reminded me of Tom Clancy’s “The Hunt For Red October.”
The second entry introduced “The DeSantaficaction Process.” It means that Scott/Santa is slowly reversing back to his old self. Adding more flavor to the mythology of Santa’s magic.
Scott/Santa mentions a famous actor he thought was “straighten out.” I’ll give you a hint, the actor worked on a sitcom with Duckie, (off of Pretty In Pink) as his onscreen brother. Turns out he’s still on The Naughty List after he got fired for making negative comments on the series creator, Chuck Lorre
Scott’s chemistry with his love interest, Carol felt natural. I would rather see those two get together than Anakin & Padmè’s awkward romance from “Attack Of The Clones.” They’re chemistry felt like it belonged in a first grader’s interpretation of “Romeo & Juliet.” Ugh!
There’s a Pause Worthy Moment of a “Kim Possible” portrait. Back when The Disney Channel wasn’t influenced by Dan Schneider’s television stinkers. I remember Disney Channel used to have high quality shows.
Robo-Santa quotes a Buzz Lightyear line. I’ll give Tim an Extra Point for saying a special shout-out to “Toy Story.” Which is the very first movie my mom took me to see and the reason why I’m passionate about motion pictures.
A fart scene made me laugh uncontrollably.
A reindeer named Chet, is voiced by Kathie Soucie. (A.K.A. Phil & Lil from Rugrats, Lola Bunny)
Naughty: Fake looking Blue Screen Effect didn’t seem to age well. It looks horrendously bad for a movie released in 2002. Looks like a PS2 game.
Product Placement featuring certain brands such as, McDonald’s, Crunch, & Pepsi. I’ll give this con a pass, because I couldn’t spot any brand to shove down my throat.
A Dance Scene out of nowhere during The End Credits Sequence. DreamWorks Animation, can do better Dance Scenes near the end of a movie. Does Shrek ring any bells?
Scott/Santa’s son, Charlie, having a storyline about “girl problems,” was kinda distracting. I never cared about Charlie’s arc about getting a girl.
The Final Verdict: B-
In my opinion, The Santa Clause 2 was alright. It didn’t actually capture lightning in a bottle as the original once did. I was gonna give my Final Verdict a C, if it weren’t for Robo-Santa as the saving grace for being a scene stealer. If you want to see this film with your family, so be it.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 