Years after becoming Santa Claus, Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) discovers that his now teenaged son is on the “naughty list” and that he must find a wife before Christmas or cease being Santa.
Quick Review: The 1998 The Santa Clause was a surprisingly delightful, simple, Christmas film, playing with the traditional view of Santa by adding the modern world. The Santa Clause 2 is not a surprise; it is exactly what I’d expect from a sequel. It isn’t a bad film, but everything is stale. The jokes have been done before. Like most sequels, it is overstuffed with underdeveloped plotlines and unnecessary extra characters. Is there a studio executive somewhere who just repeats “It’s a sequel, so put it more stuff; it doesn’t matter what the stuff is, just add more of it?” So, they gave us a story of Calvin’s son being “naughty” to impress a girl. Nothing comes of it (the girl fades out of the picture) and after whining about how tough it is to be the son of Santa Claus (yes, I’m not making that up), he’s fine. The other plots involve an artificial Santa that decides all children are naughty, and Scott’s search for a wife. The romance section works the best as Elizabeth Mitchell—as the stern but caring principal—is as close to an interesting character as this film can produce. But the jump from first date to love is way too sudden. The real disappointment is the end, where all the problems are solved by uninspired action and a poorly done chase. There are a few laughs, and a touch of the Christmas spirit, but not enough to make watching The Santa Clause 2 a yearly ritual.