Her latest wish: For her widowed mom not to marry her kind new boyfriend (Tyrese Gibson, tragically not playing himself in a cameo performance that reeks of huge “reading lines off of cue cards” energy). Things come to a head on a green-screened Christmas vacation to Cancun, where Darby finds herself overwhelmed by all of the changes in her family life. Nick, but at least she knows that he’s actually going to read them. After losing their father and spending a wild night out with Santa a couple of years ago, 12-year-old Kate Pierce and her older brother Teddy (Darby Camp and Judah Lewis, reprising their roles) have aged into a couple of pretty regular kids Kate might be one of the few tweens who still writes letters to St. Of course, this movie about the magic of believing in Christmas isn’t exactly “Bleak House,” and Columbus’ script (co-written with Matt Lieberman) is much easier to follow than it is to care about. ![]() The funniest thing about “The Christmas Chronicles 2” might be how the movie assumes that everyone remembers what happened in the first one. People might recall that Kurt Russell was a surprisingly perfect Santa Claus - revitalizing the character as an aloof, goal-oriented sweetheart who drives a sleigh that looks like a “Star Wars” speeder - but things get kinda fuzzy after that. Of course, cultural memory isn’t quite what it used to be. The first chapter of “The Christmas Chronicles” was famously streamed by every kid in America during its opening weekend, starting a Netflix tradition of boasting about bonkers viewing numbers without context, oversight, or clarity about what even constitutes a “view.” And yet, for all of its wild popularity, that clunky (if endearingly modest) holiday classic doesn’t seem to have penetrated the collective unconscious in a meaningful way, which is weird given that it was supposedly a success on par with other 2018 blockbusters like “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” Netflix Cancels 'Sex/Life' After Two Seasons - and Just After Its Star Criticized the ShowĢ023 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Limited or Anthology SeriesĢ023 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series 'How to Blow Up a Pipeline' Review: An Environmental Terrorism Thriller Without Stakes Even by the decidedly sub-“Irishman” standards of Netflix’s typical yuletide content - a standard that Columbus helped to set as a producer of “The Christmas Chronicles” back in 2018 - the poorly wrapped “ The Christmas Chronicles 2” feels like a last-minute gift that someone bought at a gas station on December 24. By the time a bunch of Pikmin-like elves get sloshed on spiked cocoa and start singing “Who Let the Dogs Out,” it’s clear that children will only remember Columbus’ latest out of resentment at how soulless Christmas movies have become, if they remember it at all. We’re talking about a guy whose cultural relevance somehow managed to outlast that of the other iconic figure who shares his name, despite the fact that only one of them was responsible for “Bicentennial Man.”Īnd so it’s downright bizarre to see Columbus return to the director’s chair for a big holiday movie that won’t leave any footprint whatsoever a joyless schlep up to the North Pole that seems to have been made with all the creative enthusiasm and holiday cheer of that video they make you watch in the waiting room at jury duty. With the chintzy but foundational first two films in the “Harry Potter” franchise, it could be argued that Columbus exerted a seismic impact on the next generation as well. ![]() Doubtfire,” and “Adventures in Babysitting” did more to shape millennial identity (or at least the BuzzFeed quizzes about it) than historians will ever formally recognize. Chris Columbus has forgotten more about how to make satisfying family movies than most people will ever know, and nothing will ever change the fact that “Home Alone,” “Mrs.
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