Kurt Russell swapped out his old action roles for something a little more festive with The Christmas Chronicles, Netflix’s modern take on Santa originally released in 2018. While it seems no time at all since Russell slipped into the red suit and boots of a slightly less conventional Santa Claus, seven years later the film and its sequel are dominating the streaming charts on Christmas Day.
The Christmas Chronicles may not be a perfect movie, but it is one that has once again been connecting with audiences. The movie is currently at number two on the Netflix chart in the U.S., with the 2020 sequel also making an appearance at number seven. The plot of the first film reads:
“Siblings Kate and Teddy Pierce hatch a scheme to capture Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. When the plan goes awry, the kids join forces with a somewhat jolly Saint Nick and his loyal elves to save the holiday before it’s too late.”
What many people agree on is that the film is built on the performance of Russell, who did exactly what was needed, playing Santa with a modern twist perfectly. As Rob Gonsalves of Rob’s Movie Vault put it:
“Russell plays Santa with absolute integrity, which in this context means he plays Santa as Kurt Russell playing Santa, which is the only reason most people of legal age would want to watch this.”
‘The Christmas Chronicles’ Is a New Christmas Staple
Over the decades, there have been many Christmas movies that are played year after year, but were either box office failures or critical disasters on their original release. The Christmas Chronicles was certainly not a disaster when it came to its reviews, scoring 67% from critics and 76% from viewers.
Many audiences were surprised by the film being able to turn what could have been a “corny” and “same-old” reworking of many movies that came before it, into a “fun and enjoyable” offering from Netflix. Sometimes, you don’t need a movie to be the best, you just need it to be entertaining for its duration, which is exactly where The Christmas Chronicles sits.
The Christmas Chronicles Part Two was not quite the same success in 2020. Although the movie was a hit on Netflix, its reviews were nowhere near as positive, especially with audiences, who only scored it 45%. With another race against time to save Christmas and iconic family director Chris Columbus directing, many expected more from the sequel, and even though it had its merits, the consensus was that The Christmas Chronicles 2 just didn’t have the same magical spark of the first movie.
Both movies can be streamed exclusively on Netflix, so why not add them to your holiday binge list.
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