It’s hard to honour Christmas in your heart every day when a new movie about Santa Claus is proudly described as a “four-quadrant” “tentpole” with “multiple ancillaries” and franchise potential. Such an approach positively demands cynicism, and at times this Dwayne Johnson vehicle seems to justify it. Jake ‘Jumanji’ Kasdan is a good enough director to find some heart, and some comedy, despite the focus-grouped priorities that seem to have shaped the film elsewhere.
We open with a slightly pointless scene-setting for a young Jack O’Malley to establish that he’s always been terribly cynical but also that life hasn’t been easy. We then see him in adulthood, casually causing chaos and stealing from other people in support of a gambling habit and a wasted life. Meanwhile, across town, Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) is visiting a mall to stretch his legs before Christmas, accompanied by his heavy, Cal...
We open with a slightly pointless scene-setting for a young Jack O’Malley to establish that he’s always been terribly cynical but also that life hasn’t been easy. We then see him in adulthood, casually causing chaos and stealing from other people in support of a gambling habit and a wasted life. Meanwhile, across town, Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) is visiting a mall to stretch his legs before Christmas, accompanied by his heavy, Cal...
- 11/6/2024
- by Helen O’Hara
- Empire - Movies
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