The Santa Clause 1994
I never saw this movie, but nearly bought the trilogy when it went on sale. With Disney Plus, I was able to watch it anyway, and in 4k. Older movies like this don’t necessarily look that great in 4k, but they probably look as good as they ever will. The premise of the movie is pretty good as a divorced father unwillingly becomes obligated to fill in for and actually be Santa Clause. It isn’t a hard hitting movie. Tim Allen’s character isn’t bad or that mean, just a little careless, and he enjoys being Santa Clause, even if he doesn’t really accept it. The North Pole is pretty well realized, populated with elves that look like kids, but who are hundreds or thousands of years old. The reindeer look a little overly animatronic, but that was probably all they could do at the time. There is a conflict of sorts as people think Allen and his son are delusional about their experience with Santa Clause and it gets a little uncomfortable as Allen’s custody is revoked and he is accused of kidnapping. But mostly things stay light with the centerpiece being Tim Alllen’s transformation from corporate go getter to Kris Kringle. It isn’t quite enough to carry the movie and I wish there were more to it. So while it is cute and harmless enough, it is still a little disappointing. I’m not sure if having Allen be more of a Scrooge type at the beginning would give more depth or just make it more trite. Maybe by avoiding some of the more obvious pitfalls, they also avoided a lot of character development and plot.
Written: 25 Dec 2020
Owned on: Digital