The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause

Some very snappy dialogue and a fun, sweet spirit keep this sequel-for-sequel's-sake holiday kiddie flick from succumbing to its contemptibly contrived premise that revolves around finding even more fine print on the calling card that turned divorced suburban dad Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) into Santa Claus in the original 1994 family comedy. It seems the elves waited eight years to inform their new Santa that he has until this Christmas to find a Mrs. Claus--or else. "The de-Santafication process has already begun," frets head elf Bernard (David Krumholtz) as he shoos Scott off to fall in love with his troubled teenage son's beautiful but icy school principal (talented Elizabeth Mitchell). Meanwhile, cherubic techie-elf Curtis (untalented child actor Spencer Breslin) clones a big, rubbery toy Santa automaton (played by Allen in heavy prosthetic makeup) to secretly stand in for Scott at the North Pole. But the thing turns into a tyrant who builds himself a giant tin soldier army to enforce his will and plans to put coal in everyone's stocking. Yeesh! The Santa Clause 2 gets by on just enough seasonal charm for a mild recommendation as family fare. [Note: Available in both widescreen and full screen editions, DVD extras include audio commentary by director Michael Lembeck, a 10-minute “Inside the North Pole with Curtis #2 Elf” making-of featurette hosted by costar Spencer Breslin, the feraturettes “Director's Tour of Elfsburg” (4 min.) and “True Confessions of the Legendary Figures” (3 min.), 12 minutes of deleted scenes with director intros, a four-minute gag reel, an “Operation Toybox: Save Santa Game,” Easter eggs, trailers, and DVD-ROM features. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a mostly charming holiday flick.] (R. Blackwelder)