The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two Review: The Season’s Greatest Power Couple Returns to Save This Sequel

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two is an overstuffed stocking of sickening sweet storylines and unrelenting Christmas cheer.

That is to say, it’s like every single holiday franchise sequel that came before; not nearly as good and not nearly as enjoyable but passible entertaining all the same.

You want Home Alone 2 but you will almost always end up with The Santa Claus 2. And on some level that’s a shame because if any film had the potential for more it was The Christmas Chronicles, a film that somehow captures the same magic of the seasonal genre we grew up with while giving us such a sleek new take on Old Saint Nick.

It’s no small feat to follow a film that inadvertently became a Christmas classic with its large scale escapades and even larger motion picture feel. And that kind of pressure proves impossible for The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two as the sequel settles for the confines of the small-screen story it once defied.

Two years have passed since we first met Kate and Teddy. Their mother is seeing a very good looking man named Bob and because Bob apparently doesn’t get the essence of the holiday at all, he invites the entire family to tag along with him to the tropics for Christmas where they can spend zero time together.

Teddy is fine with this and disappears for almost the entirety of the film (I’m still not clear on why) and Kate is promptly kidnapped by some elf turned evil boy-genius that goes by the name Belsnickel but makes no reference to Dwight’s groundbreaking portrayal of Belsnickel from The Office — the audacity!

Anyway, Kate ends up at the North Pole with Bob’s son and lots of rather random events occur in a row to assemble this jumbled mess of a plot.

Unfortunately, the plot’s indecisiveness is ultimately what stands between this sequel and greatness.

I’m not quite sure how a film with so much going on manages to trudge along at such a slow pace between action sequences, but that could be in part because of the unnecessary two-hour run time.

It doesn’t help that The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two never fully invests in its own adventure and is constantly adverting our attention to the next crisis. The result is a story that feels disjointed, and not at all like the controlled chaos we experienced last time we collided with Santa Claus in Chicago.

The naughtiest part of this film is its refusal to use the stellar cast of characters as a cohesive ensemble. Not only is Teddy left out of the fun entirely but Mr. and Mrs. Claus spend the majority of the story on separate journeys with our two leads.

It’s a missed opportunity because these cheerful characters are the only things keeping this sequel afloat at times.

Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, who have apparently been together for 37-years now, feel right at home onscreen as our Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Their determination to save Christmas may not entirely pan out, but in committing to these iconic roles these two certainly save this sequel from losing its child-like wonder.

Hawn’s Mrs. Claus is the anchor that keeps the entire operation on track and her genuine kindness puts the audience at ease every time she comes on screen. But Mrs. Claus is not afraid to pull rank when Santa loses control of the situation and it’s that kind of strong leadership that makes her portrayal of the iconic Christmas lady a total win for the franchise.

And I would be remiss not to talk about Russell’s portrayal of Santa Claus because his hot take on this legendary figure continues to be one of the best interpretations of Father Christmas in the history of the genre. His presence onscreen exudes cool and his commanding performance amplifies all that we love about the mythical figure.

Netflix’s signature Santa Claus will make true believers of us all.

Together these two are an unstoppable force of charm and Christmas spirit. The power couple we desperately needed to save this holiday season.

At the end of the day, The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two doesn’t require a lot of brainpower to enjoy and still has plenty of entertaining notes for the entire family to take in this holiday season.

It’s harmless fun with little bite and plenty of green screen action sequences to chew on. And if you love hordes of CGI elves dancing with chainsaws then boy are you in luck.

On its own, the sequel lacks spirit, but as a double feature it holds up as a fun continuation of a Christmas tale we’ve come to admire.

However, if Netflix is serious about continuing with this Christmas franchise then they have to bring more depth to Santa’s Village, or not even Kurt Russell’s glorious beard will be enough to keep these films off the naughty list.

What did you think of The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two is streaming now on Netflix.

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