Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020) Review

Directed By: Chris Columbus

Starring: Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn,Darby Camp, Jahzir Bruno, Julian Dennison, Judah Lewis, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Tyrese Gibson

Synopsis: Unhappy over her mom’s new relationship, a now-teenage Kate runs away and lands at the North Pole, where a naughty elf is plotting to cancel Christmas.

Review: Kurt Russell returns as Santa in this fun action-adventure sequel that all the family will enjoy.

It’s fun to see Kurt Russell back on our screens and personally for me, it’s a fun way to introduce my children to Kurt Russell as at their current age they’re not ready to watch Snake Plissken take names. Christmas Chronicles 2 opens with Santa hunting down a huge Yule Cat who has been trying to eat his reindeer. That’s right folks, Kurt’s Santa is all kinds of cool and badass, everything Kurt Russell oozes.

Christmas Chronicles 2 is a sequel that is just as good as the first — which is rarely said about a sequel this time we get to see more of Goldie Hawns character Mrs Clause, and we get to explore Santa’s Village, the sequel really peels back another layer of this universe.

Another nice touch was exploring Santa’s backstory and finding out how he became who he is today. We are also treated to another big song segment which was fun, Santa took centre stage and brought the Christmas spirit to life.

Darby Camp returned as Kate, and she was just as likeable and mischievous as she was the first time around. Kate is still missing her dad and this plays a huge part in this story, though a certain scene, which plays on the emotional heart strings helps her get a better grasp on how to handle what she’s feeling and move on without having to worry her dad will be forgotten about.

Judah Lewis took a backseat this time around and was a mere cameo. Kate was accompanied by Jack (Jahzir Bruno) who isn’t the bravest but as we know, he will have to face his fears eventually, right?

Julian Dennison stars as rogue elf Belsnickel who is out to destroy Santa and the holiday spirit no matter what the cost, he uses Kate to sneak into Santa’s Village and from there plots to shut everything down. Julian is basically playing the PG version of his Deadpool 2 character.

Tyrese Gibson has a minor role and doesn’t get to cross paths with Kurt Russell who was also his co-star in Fast & Furious 7. While speaking about Fast & Furious Santa does get to have a race in his Sleigh which is pretty cool.

Overall Christmas Chronicles 2 is an action packed, heart-warming adventure that will definitely make the yearly watch along with the first entry. Kurt Russell has set the bar with playing Santa for the family audience. Fingers crossed for a third story.