The Christmas Chronicles 2

"The Christmas Chronicles 2" - so typical of holiday fare in the streaming era - is more convincing as a reminder that we're sometimes justified in lamenting what we've lost.

The Christmas Chronicles 2 is better than your average Christmas movie, even if it offers many familiar touches.

Chris Columbus takes over the reins as director and binges on the cheesy digital effects, but his story does dash off into an exciting new direction as it revisits the origins of Santa.

[A]n unremarkable if far from unpleasant sequel arriving just in time to brighten your locked-down holiday festivities.

Russell and Hawn do their best to power through, but after almost two increasingly stilted hours of this stuff - which is far too long for a film of this type - the couple's kindly twinkles look a little strained.

Kids will eat it all up, but let's face it, they also love the food at Chuck E. Cheese.

Even within the microcosm of Netflix Original Christmas films, The Christmas Chronicles 2 stands out as a particularly sour outing.

Abandons all that genre-folding for a more traditional tale, with a lot less spark.

Kurt Russell's second outing as Santa Claus wastes its bigger, sequel-sized budget...

It's just right for kids during Christmas, although Dads won't want to watch this...but I liked it, and enjoyed it on its own level very much.