For many people, a familiar pastime in the weeks leading up to major winter holidays is gathering with family members and watching holiday movies, be they in a theater or on television. This year, such plans will have changed for individuals not living with the people they often spend time with during the holiday season, and curfews and lock-downs have forced movie theaters to close. However, this shouldn’t stop us from enjoying holiday movies with friends and family.
During the month of December, therefore, the Falls Free Press will present “The 12 Films of Christmas,” focusing on new holiday movies for the year 2020—a year that can do with plenty of spirit. We will review each film, whether naughty or nice, and let you know where to watch it.
Kurt Russell is anything if not inconsistent with the roles he plays, yet always brings one particular aspect into all of his characters. While he’s acted since childhood, his breakout role as the King of Rock and Roll in John Carpenter’s 1979 film Elvis has found its way into many of his roles, Santa Claus included.
Chris Columbus’s The Christmas Chronicles hit Netflix two years ago, introducing Russell’s Santa to the world, including two children—Kate and Teddy. Planning to catch the jolly man in red in the act of delivering presents, they sneak aboard his sleigh and accidentally cause it to crash over 100 miles away in a different state. Having lost his bag and hat, Santa must find a way out of prison, everyone not having taken him seriously. Meanwhile, Kate finds herself in the Hall of Letters at the North Pole, falling through a portal located within Santa’s bag, where she learns that she comes from a long family line of “True Believers.” Teddy, on the other hand, still doesn’t quite believe in the spirit of Christmas, frustrated over his firefighter father’s death in the line of duty years prior.
It’s been two years since Columbus’s first film in the series, with all actors reprising their roles in The Christmas Chronicles 2. This time, Kate is skeptical of everything around her, while Teddy believes in Christmas everywhere he goes. For this reason, it makes the least sense that Teddy, despite having grown too much for a children’s film, is barely seen for the rest of the movie. Frustrated that their mom is enjoying the holiday with her new boyfriend as the family celebrates in Cancun, Kate attempts to take a flight home, getting a ride from a hotel worker in a golf cart. Unbeknownst to her—or her possible new stepbrother Jack, who has sneaked aboard the cart—their driver is Belsnickel, who was once an elf working with Santa, but broke all elf laws, and so was punished by becoming human.
What the sequel does that the original did not is expand on the lore of Santa Claus, especially how he became the legend people know about now. Using similar effects on Russell’s visage as were used in 2017’s Guardian’s of the Galaxy Volume 2, we see Santa as Bishop St. Nicholas in 312 AD when he began delivering gifts in his town, later making a pact with the elves to build an enclosure for the Star of Bethlehem to focus its power and run his North Pole village. From his past to the present, Goldie Hawn also accompanies Russell as Mrs. Claus, reprising her brief appearance from the first film, only this time her character plays a much bigger role in the story—even if the lines she’s given make her sound more like a grieving mother than the loving wife who designed and helped build the entire village.
Meanwhile, the elves are now used more for comic effect rather than extra hands for plot driving. This includes Belsnickel, whose mistakes and ridiculous creations like Jackalotes (a jackal and coyote hybrid) driving his own sleigh, overshadow his repeated terrorist attacks on Santa, his reindeer, and the elf workers. The most viewers may remember from this movie about the elves is a huge dance number to the song “Who Let the Dog’s Out” as they trash the village while under the influence of the substance elf-bane.
The lack of recall doesn’t stop there, unfortunately. Russell has a musical number as he had before—this time without the bluesy “Jailhouse Rock” feel—but a majority of the number cuts away to delve into character drama elsewhere. This feels like a slight dig at the actor, whose persona embodies the rockabilly, no-nonsense action, but it doesn’t feel out of place with the rest of the story’s poor planning.
While the first film in the series of Christmas Chronicles is worth multiple viewings, this year’s sequel can be left by the fireplace for kindling.
Christmas Chronicles 2 is available to watch on Netflix.
