Review of The Santa Clause (1994) by Leonard D — 22 Nov 2015

Ah Christmas films, the one kind of film that is always for the family and one's that when done right, the kind that kid and the adult can enjoy. The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen is a movie that starts off with a feeling that it hasn't got it right, it's going to be another movie that tries to be fun and sweet but all together falls off the rails. This movie however feels alright, it's funny at times and does have a sweet centre in fact even sometimes you feel for the characters which quite often in these type of movies they start to falter the more you see of them. The story see's Tim Allen's character Scott basically become Santa as he well knocks him off his roof and then puts on the suit meaning in the Santa "Clause" he is now the jolly red suited man. We then see Scott really become Santa, only his son knows he is Santa, everyone else thinks he is crazy, things transpire and the whole story comes to an exciting end.

It's well done this movie I mean even from a technical point of view and even though maybe watching some years after it can look outdated, it nevertheless still looks pretty cool. One of the things I felt this movie nails is the whole look of this, it's bright and full of colour and the North Pole when it is seen is fantastically built and the extras make for a great effort to create a nice atmosphere. The movie can suffer in parts through one too many fart jokes and not all the jokes hit the mark, but the movie still suffices in the way it is mostly funny. Tim Allen does well in his role, at first comes across as unlikeable but as the plot grows he matures as a character brining with him fun and that jolly feeling you need from the lead of a Christmas movie.

After directing this, John Pasquin continued to work with Tim Allen and you can see why, he gets the most out of Allen and really the cast too, it can at times feel like some kind of made for TV movie and the directing isn't brilliant, but Pasquin makes the most out of the script and the film all in all satisfies. The writers create a script that works very well for a family feel of a movie and they create a story that is a nice one to direct and act in, it feels as mentioned before very sweet and although never truly strikes the heart immensely, still leaves you feeling a little for the characters involved.

It's schmaltzy in moments but ultimately rewarding for anyone who has a heart, don't expect too much from this and you could be pleasantly surprised by this. The movie spawned two sequels by the time of review in which really although it deserved a second film, it does work extremely well as a single piece and one that is nicely enjoyable for all. It's also very much a plot that doesn't feel that different to those you may see in other Christmas movies however really the whole reason this movie for me is OK and a reasonable watch is that it manages to make you laugh but also touches the part of you that secretly is still a kid.