The Christmas Chronicles: Part 2

Like 2018’s first instalment, Netflix’s The Christmas Chronicles: Part 2 is fairly lightweight and insubstantial, but it’s carried by the performances of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn as Santa and Mrs Claus, who are always a pleasure to watch whenever they’re on screen.

Premise: Two years after her adventure with Santa (Kurt Russell), Kate Pierce (Darby Camp) is unhappy that her mother (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) has taken them to Cancun for Christmas with her new boyfriend (Tyrese Gibson) and his young son, Jack (Jahzir Bruno). But Kate and Jack soon find themselves transported to the North Pole as part of Belsnickel’s (Julian Dennison) plan for revenge against Santa and Mrs Claus (Goldie Hawn).

Review:

The first instalment of The Christmas Chronicles was a fairly clichéd and run-of-the-mill Christmas film, which was worth watching predominantly for Kurt Russell’s fun portrayal of Santa as part crotchety grandfather figure, part charming rock star. In short, the same can also be said of this Part 2, except that now you also have the fun of seeing Goldie Hawn (who, for those of you who don’t know, is Kurt Russell’s real-life wife) as Mrs Claus.

Hawn’s Mrs Claus plays with conventions and expectations, just as Russell’s Santa does. As was hinted at in the first film, Mrs Claus very much feels like the responsible adult in the relationship, who keeps everything running while Santa gets carried away with whatever latest adventure presents itself. She’s magical in her own right, and seems more knowledgeable and wise that Santa, but doesn’t crave the limelight like he does (as shown by the fact she allows the elf town to be called “Santa’s Village” even though she effectively created it).

“…Kurt Russell & Goldie Hawn manage to do a lot with a little…”

But without wishing to over-analyse the Claus’ relationship, the point is that Mrs Claus gets things to do other than simply be a background presence. And just as casting someone like Kurt Russell allows you to do a lot with a little in terms of character development, Goldie Hawn is able to bring hints of emotional depth (for example, in relation to her sadness about the lack of children at the North Pole) to what could have been a fairly two-dimensional character on paper.

Story-wise, this Part 2 seems to have overcompensated for the first film’s lack of any real plot, by throwing everything into the mix – magical portals, evil elves, enchanted auroras, the Christmas Star, mystical portions, Santa’s Village, mythical creatures, time travel and even the origin of Santa. It’s all very busy with lots going on, but it does at least give Russell and Hawn plenty to do (whereas in the first film, Russell was unwisely side-lined for the slower middle section). On the other hand, it does actually make me miss the simplicity of the first film – while it’s true that nothing much really happened, it did at least have a sense of its time (Christmas Eve) and place (the real world), whereas the decision to base this sequel in the magical North Pole (and to have the human scenes set in a beach resort in Cancun) does remove that sense real-worldliness that made the first film so relatable.

“…the comforting familiarity of some family-friendly light entertainment…”

But generally, if you (or younger family members) enjoyed the first instalment, you should enjoy this too – it even finds a way to shoehorn in another Santa-driven musical number, just like in the first film. And while it’s certainly no Christmas classic, it’s the cinematic equivalent of easy-listening music – nothing too taxing or controversial, just the comforting familiarity of some family-friendly light entertainment. And Kurt Russell is still the on-screen Santa to beat in terms of his awesome red leather coat and amazingly well-coiffed hair and beard!