The Santa Clause 2
Season of Giving
The Santa Clause 2 is just like Christmas itself, and I can prove it.
- It is overly commercial. If The Santa Clause 2 is about anything (other than the holiday season), it is about corporate synergy. Disney has a corporate tie-in with McDonalds, so we get to see Santa downing a Big Mac. (Not that I’m incensed or anything; it’s not as though poor Santa Claus isn’t used to sell every damned thing in the world, from Preparation H on down.)
- It is about decorations. A good part of this film takes place at Santa’s workshop in the North Pole — actually, far under the North Pole, as we learn from a very silly opening scene spoofing, of all things, submarine movies. Santa’s workshop is really the strength of this movie. There are lots of bad things you can say about big-budget Hollywood studio movies like this, and I have said a lot of them myself. But the one thing that they consistently do well — not just well, but astoundingly well — is set design and costuming and all of the other things that take up the first hour of the Academy Awards broadcast. Santa’s workshop is an extravagant, lush set, filled with lots of detail, and it helps make the movie sparkle.
- It’s really about decorations. The initial event of the story is Santa’s son (Eric Lloyd) spraying graffiti in his school’s gym, criticizing the school principal (Elizabeth Mitchell) for her refusal to hang Christmas ornaments in the school. (Never mind that said principal has a good point about the need to be conservative with the school’s budget.) This is done primarily to set Mitchell’s character up as a Grinch. (Not literally, of course, since The Grinch is a Universal Pictures property and Disney doesn’t want to extend its corporate synergy that far.) But one has to wonder just how important Christmas decorations are to people if they would go to the extreme lengths that Lloyd’s character goes to in order to protest their absence. (My guess is that we really don’t want to know this.)
- It’s about funny sweaters. This is largely Judge Reinhold’s section of the review. We only see him for a little bit, here and there, being smarmy, and wearing these godawful patterned sweaters. Reinhold can’t act, of course, never could, but he’s a walking, talking sight gag all by himself. And since it’s the season of giving, I am glad that Disney is giving him some work. (If you want a good laugh, check out Reinhold’s Internet Movie Database listing, especially the movies between the first and second Santa Clause movies. Woof.)
- It’s about children. The Santa Clause 2 is a movie for kids of every age, and underscores this by a great scene where Santa (Tim Allen) pulls a whole bunch of vintage toys out of his sack for a jaded adult audience. There are lots of bright colors (not just in Judge Reinhold’s sweaters) and loud music and magic and a little bit of G-rated romance. It’s a very nice movie for all but the youngest children.
- It starts earlier every year. The movie was released before Thanksgiving. That’s just wrong.
- It’s about forgiveness. The reason that The Santa Clause 2 is not quite right for the youngest children, in my view, is the presence of the Evil Santa, a clone of the Tim Allen character who allows his power as Santa’s temporary replacement to go to his head. Although the Evil Santa has a different voice and appearance than Allen, it could be a little scary and confusing for tots. (I say this primarily for my nephew, Trevor — hi, Trevor! — who is three-and-a-half and is scared of Santa Claus to begin with.) The Evil Santa picks up on the presence of the “naughty and nice list”, and points out that all of the children of the world have been naughty at times, and that all of them deserve coal. The elves, very helpfully, point out that “it’s the holiday season, and we try to cut them some slack”. But the Evil Santa is not to be deterred, and Santa must return to the North Pole and rescue Christmas, etc. etc. It’s a victory that can be relished by anyone still cowed by parental threats to call Santa and tell him not to bother showing up.
- It can make you wish you were dead. There’s another great scene involving Santa’s efforts on the dating front (don’t ask) involving Saturday Night Live alum Molly Shannon. I won’t spoil it by revealing it, but it’s maybe the most awkward moment in the movies this year. It’s a great moment for Shannon, and it reminds us just exactly how painful the holidays can be at times for pretty much everybody.
- It is about overeating. This is largely in the scene with Comet the Reindeer, who gorges himself on a variety of Nestle chocolate bars. (There’s that corporate synergy thing again.)
- It is about belief. The Santa Clause 2 is wholly secular in its approach, and doesn’t even pretend to treat Christmas as anything other than an excuse for shopping and mistletoe. Its belief system is, if anything, wholly pagan, throwing in a lot of characters from other holidays. This is a lot of fun, though, especially Peter Boyle as Father Time. (Kevin Pollak is a pretty good Cupid, but was Jeremy Piven really not available?) Anyway, if The Santa Clause 2 doesn’t really believe in the religious underpinnings of Christmas, at least it believes in its own mythology, and allows veteran Art LaFleur to steal the show as the Tooth Fairy.
The above list includes at least some negative things about Christmas and The Santa Clause 2, and I wouldn’t want you to think that I was, necessarily, negative in my outlook about either or both. I stand by my conclusion. Despite some drawbacks, The Santa Clause 2 is just like Christmas. It is sweet, sentimental, exciting at times, fun, and promotes family togetherness. It is also overly slick, patently commercial, and can be aggravating if you’re not in the right mood. Still, its heart is in the right place, and you’ll be sorry once it’s over. Considering that it is, in fact, the holiday season, that’s a good reason to give the holiday, and The Santa Clause 2, a little slack.