The Santa Clause 2 (2002)

I REALLY like the original, so I had high hopes for this second installment. The romance (when it's on firm footing in the real world) works wonderfully, but the North Pole sequences lack. Unfortunately, most of our time is spent on a ridiculous subplot with a replacement Santa, which serves no purpose except to take attention away from the wonder of remembering... remembering how magical Christmas was when we really believed and how we all long to return to that wonderful state. That's what’s special in these films: introducing Christmas magic into the everyday world... the fact that the first movie spent most of its time doing just that is what made it so touching. In SC2, as we see Santa melting the heart of the strict schoolmarm, those same tears blurred my vision as when "Mystery Date" floated down to his ex-wife in the first film. Why couldn't we have spent more time in that world?

C-