I hate to be in the churlish position of rejecting a G-rated movie. After all, how many such films get released in a year? But if you had a pleasant experience watching 1994's "The Santa Clause," as I did, hold on to that memory. Don't even begin to think you'll get that same fuzzy, funny feeling. "SC2," which has almost as many credited screenwriters as Santa has reindeer, has less charm than coal in a stocking.
Its premise – that Scott Calvin/Santa (Tim Allen) needs a wife or he'll lose his blessed status (that's the clause in this title) – is mind-boggling. What, they just found this out, eight years later? And speaking of specious reasons for a sequel: Apparently, Santa's son (Eric Lloyd) has been acting up at school. Santa finds this out because Charlie shows up on Santa's Naughty List.
Tim Allen puts the beard back on in "The Santa Clause 2."
(Walt Disney)
|
|
But let's forget inconvenient logic. Let's focus on the amazingly unappealing child actors who play Santa's little helpers, including the incomprehensibly mumbly Spencer Breslin as Curtis and David Krumholtz as the head elf, whose grating, not-so-quippy personality may be precisely the reason he's bean-counting packages in the frigid north.
Allen, who's a natural charmer, seems to be at half-strength here – much like Santa, who's rapidly losing weight. In the movie's strangest plot twist, Santa decides to create a substitute version of himself while he's off finding a new wife, rescuing Charlie and saving Christmas. But this Santa – who suggests a cardboard cutout Kenny Rogers shellacked with egg white – is evil, robotic and insists on putting a piece of coal in every child's stocking. Apparently none of the elves notices anything strange.
As for the romance between Scott and Charlie's principal (Elizabeth Mitchell), it couldn't be less credible. In journalistic fairness, my two companions (an 8-year-old girl and my 10-year-old son) pronounced this movie "good." But if you'd heard the lackluster tone in their voices, you wouldn't be rushing to buy tickets.
THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 (G, 98 minutes) – Contains dating scenes between adults, which is, of course, totally gross. And that fake Santa may be too scary for some children. Area theaters.
