Movie Review: The Santa Clause 2 (2002) seen in theatres, on DVD and Disney plus

Comedy: some scenes may be unsuitable for young children, mature themes, brief violence and sci fi elements, including scenes that depict vandalism and minor romance as well as marriage.

Tim Allen returns for a second round of portraying the guy in the red suit and black boots in the sequel to the 1994 classic which sees him being given an ultimatum to get married by Christmas Eve or forfeit the role of Santa Claus all together. Meanwhile, he must contend with his son Charlie whose actions have earned him a place on the naughty list which in turn necessitates the wrath of a strict authoritarian principal who has seemingly lost all of her Christmas spirit.

This movie will always hold a special place in my heart. This is because while I have been doing movie blogs for a few months now, it has only been for practice. This movie is the first one I’ve blogged as an official movie blogger, (at least from the point of view of mom and those around me.) I mean, I still don’t get paid to do the job but at least mom has taken an interest in my blogs, something she has actually wanted to see for a while but was unable to due to her inability to access my site. Anyway it is my first blog where my job is recognized as such even though I don’t currently get paid for it. Maybe that will come some day.

The biggest standout point of this movie to me is it’s portrayal of the classic trope of “parent must find a way to balance his/her work life with his/her personal life.” Throughout this film, Santa is shown to revert back and forth between himself and his normal identity while trying to make it appear as if he lives a normal life in the presence of those who do not know he is Santa Claus.

This movie also depicts possible embarrassment on Charlie’s part as he admits in his own way to acting out over his father’s duties necessitating him not being around as much.

The biggest takeaway from this film is the fact that the toy Santa, (Tim Allen in a secondary role,) reminds me of a teacher at my old high school in both his appearance and his voice. He had the grey hair and pretty much the same voice. I did not have him as a teacher and was not very fond of him even though I didn’t know him that well.

Throughout this film, there was subtle hints that should have given to the principal that Scott was Santa Claus. This includes the sleigh ride that they took to the Christmas party as well as the gifts magically appearing. To me, this should have given away this fact but I guess it was in the script for her not to catch on until the very end.

The more I think about it, having a father like Santa Claus is embarrassing. mean, he lives in the North Pole and his presence is never felt until the Christmas season. How are you supposed to tell your friends randomly, “Hey my dad is Santa Claus,” and believe that you won’t get made fun of? I sort of agree with Charlie on the point that he made throughout the film. I can even sympathize with him a little. Though my own father is not Santa, he is someone I’m embarrassed to be around for reasons I would rather not discuss. I can honestly say that he is pretty far away from Tim Allen himself as well. I just realized this now. Why is it that in most relationships when children have to choose between one parent or the other is the father the one to avoid and not the mother? I’m not saying this is the case for all relationships but in my own personal case, my father is the one to be avoided and not discussed due to embarrassment, hatred towards him, ETC and while the hatred part doesn’t apply to Scott and Charlie, he does show signs of embarrassment even though his dad is supposedly “the best thing in the world that he can’t tell anyone about,” as he put it in the film. Well I can honestly say that I’ve never had a father as good as my step father and he doesn’t need to be Santa Claus and my real father doesn’t measure up to him. He’s the worst thing in the world that never deserved to live as I’m putting it, (I’m not referring to Tim Allen in saying this but my own father.) At least by the end of the film, Charlie was able to introduce the principal to his father and she eventually accepted him. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for my real father. Having said that, I have a great mother.

Now originally I said I wanted to do an Ashton Kutcher week where I watch all of his movies. This changed however when a period of me remembering the horror that was my first relationship made me depressed enough to once again almost put off starting my job until tomorrow, especially since I was feeling sick with a headache. I decided I could do my job as scheduled but I needed something to lift my spirits and though it’s not Christmas, this movie presented me the perfect opportunity to do so.

Here’s to hoping this job is a success.

Movie rating: 7 out of 10 due to some scenes being boring and a dislike for Tim Allen’s performance. This rating is as high as it is due to this being the start of something I really enjoy doing.

Next movie review: TBD although possibly something on Netflix