I really did enjoy "The Santa Clause" it was a beautiful, funny, and sweet film that actually managed to make me tear up and I'd consider it one of the best holiday films ever made. Nine years later, Scott Calvin has grown used to his shoes as Santa Claus and Christmas has become more popular than ever, and is told by his two head elves that he needs to marry. The powers that be, conservative republicans probably, have declared he needs to marry because a bachelor Santa Claus isn't a real Santa Claus. Why does he need to be married? It's never answered, but for purposes of  plot, he needs to marry in twenty-eight days or else he's Santa no more. Meanwhile his son Charlie (Returning Eric Lloyd) is getting into a lot of trouble and has ended up on his naughty list while a new Santa takes over for Scott while he's gone and suddenly begins going mad with power.

I loved the original film and I hate sequels, but I didn't hate this. This once again manages to bring some more magic to the plotline of Santa Claus with the usual sense of wonder with the North Pole and the elves. Again they use kids instead of the usual cliché demeaning little people. Kids are a brilliant idea because it only adds more to the sense of awe and amazement that comes with the myth of Santa Claus. Tim Allen who I usually like is still good here. Even his worst movies like "For Richer or For Poorer" are still not very bad to watch. Allen is likable, he has the everyman quality you can love and that's what makes "The Santa Clause 2" not another sequel. There is a lot to like here including the romance between Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell which is charming and surprisingly never felt forced.

Mitchell is gorgeous and a great antagonist and rival to Allen's character Calvin. Again there are the bursts of imagination regarding the North Pole and the reindeer which take on their own personalities including Comet who has an over-eating problem. And of course there's the always funny David Krumholtz as the anal lead elf Bernard. "The Santa Clause 2" is a lot of fun and is a good follow-up to an already great original film.

For everything "The Santa Clause 2" has stacked for it, there are also so many things stacked against it with its artificial feel. Nothing here really feels genuine with its forced plotline and utterly contrived plot device of having a misses clause for the sake of having a sequel. Everything here feels present for the sake of money for the sequel, and the misses clause is such a cheap device to have yet another movie made about the concept. Why not just have another movie chronicling Scott's struggle with his role as Santa? It makes no utter sense, and what was the point of the subplot with the robotic Santa Claus? There was no need for it and it was really tacked on for the purposes of killing time with a sub plot. Again, why do these family films always have to have a villain for the sake of having a villain? Alas, none of this ever registered with me and felt so utterly false in its delivery.

Despite it's sense of magic that its kept and the utter likable personality of Tim Allen, there was no need for a sequel to a relatively excellent holiday film in the first place with an overt artificial feel, horrible sub-plot and obligatory villain.

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