We started out watching Russell Crowe’s Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, the HBO Saturday night premiere, but it was so bloated and ponderous and, well, full of itself that we turned it off after an hour in favor of something with nowhere near the same ambition, Tim Allen’s goofy The Santa Clause 2. You know, we had some laughs and smiles and sometimes ambition and a budget to match just don’t get you a great movie; Master and Commander had such a big budget three studios (Fox, Universal and Disney’s Miramax) had to split the cost.
Anyway, SC2 picks up a eight years after the first and all of a sudden he’s de-Santafying because he missed the small print on the card he got when becoming The Man. What does it say? He must bring a Mrs. Clause to the North Pole before the stroke of midnight Christmas Eve or else. Back in the Real World his son is running into trouble and so Allen wants to get back there anyway. Let’s just say that the two problems collide and meanwhile some toys get uppity, driving the plot sufficiently for the much lower ambitions of this kid-targeted flick. Cute, simple, fair share of cliches but in the end that’s okay.
modestly recommended
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