The Santa Clause (Disney+)

I watched the original with the kid this Christmas, I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would after watching it for the first time in about two decades.

THE SANTA CLAUSE (1994)



The Santa Clause is a weird movie. I don't like stories where Santa Claus exists, but people don't believe he exists. That doesn't make sense. And the idea that anyone can put on Santa's suit and take over is very flawed. What if Santa had fallen off the roof of a rapist or murderer? There has to be more requirements than just putting on clothes! And if Santa is a magical being, it should be more difficult for him to die or be killed. Nothing in this story makes any sense... except... for the actual storytelling. What makes the movie work is that it focuses on the aftermath of Tim Allen becoming Santa Claus. We see how it destroys his life and his physical appearance. There's a lot of perks to being Santa Claus, but there's also a lot of sacrifices. Underneath the silliness, there's a lot of darkness to this concept of the Santa clause, and that's why the movie resonates with audiences. Holiday movies are at their best when they have some edge. 

B+


THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 (2002)



One of the things I admire about the first movie is that it never felt the need to be a wacky kids movie. Sure, there's a lot of silliness and gags, but it stayed firmly rooted in the story of a divorced father trying to have a healthy relationship with his son. The scene where he burns Christmas Eve dinner and ends up taking his child to Denny's says everything you need to know about that movie. So it disappoints me that the sequel moved away from that and into more over-the-top comedy. This time, the story is about Tim Allen having 28 days to find a Mrs. Claus or else he'll stop being Santa Claus. That should have been the whole movie, but the filmmakers had no faith in it, and added a cartoon-y B-plot about Santa Claus leaving someone else in charge for those 28 days and it almost destroy's Christmas. This lack of confidence ruins what could have been a respectable sequel. The scenes with Tim Allen romancing Elizabeth Mitchell have a lot of charm, but they only reach the bare minimum of screentime in order to make room for the other stuff. That was a big mistake.

C


THE SANTA CLAUSE 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE (2006)



I'll say this about The Escape Clause, it's a lot more consistent than its predecessor. That movie couldn't juggle the contrast between Santa Claus finding a wife and the shenanigans of the North Pole. This movie, on the other hand, knows what it wants to be and pulls it off. Unfortunately, what it wants to be isn't going to satisfy the fans of the original. The Escape Clause is a kids movie. That's it. There is some attempt to appeal to adults by showing Santa Claus being stressed out. His wife is pregnant. His family is visiting him. The workshop is running behind on toys. And on top of all that, Jack Frost, who's played by Martin Short, wants to take over Christmas. All of that is very entertaining, but it's handled in a very kids movie kind of way. There's nothing wrong with that, but there's nothing good about that either. It just results in a very average movie.

C