The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two is the kind of sequel that brings with it very low expectations, especially when the plot reveals itself. The original film – about a rock ‘n roll Santa played by Kurt Russel – was a largely stock “we have to save Christmas” Christmas movie but with a modern “edge”. It was enjoyable. This new film does what a lot of sequels do and adds a villain to overcome and often that’s just because they ran out of ideas. I won’t say they didn’t run out of ideas this time either, but I thought the results were much better than expected.

So part 2 of the Chronicles (heh) stars the same cast as the original. The kids from the first flick, slightly older, are stuck for Christmas in Cancun. But there’s a nefarious villain lurking about who wants something from them. And he has a history with Santa and wants his revenge.

Kurt Russel is back as Santa and as fun as before. Cleverly, he’s joined this time by his real-life wife Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Clause. It’s always nice to see her back on screen (and with significant screen time). She brings her usual shine to a part that fits the bill.

The villain character is played by Julian Dennison, the lead in The Hunt for the Wilderpeople and the mutant kid in Deadpool 2. He’s a good presence on screen, especially playing a slightly obnoxious but not altogether evil villain. In fact, the way this good cheer Christmas movie handles its villain plot is really nice and very much in line with what a Christmas movie should do.

The film’s adventurous spirit is on full display and it’s fun… dare I say even better than the first film? Yeah, I think it is… even if the battle to save Santa’s workshop does maybe get a little long in the end. But that’s ok since the rest of the film is pretty strong. It turns out that it’s directed by Chris Columbus, a fine director that I was surprised to see show up in the credits to this one. This movie is certainly in his wheel house but I wouldn’t expect him to direct the unasked-for sequel to a Netflix Christmas movie.

And, hey, even if the action scenes aren’t the best, the movie does have the Christmas spirit and pulls off holiday cheer… or possibly cheese. Yeah, it was cheesy but in all the right ways for a Christmas flick. So I say give this one a chance, especially if you grooved even a little on the first one. It’s good fun.

Score: 83