Ralphie Parker (Breadan Lemasters) is five years older and, in some ways, five years more mature. He’s moved past his obsession with a Red Ryder BB Gun and on to something new. As a nearly sixteen year old boy in the 1940’s Ralphie has something new on his mind, a car. Like the ordeal with his BB gun, getting his parents to buy him a car for Christmas will prove to be quite difficult. In addition to a car, Ralphie has something else in his sights, fellow classmate Drucilla Gootrad (Tiera Skobvye). With the old man (Daniel Stern), mother (Stacey Travis) and Randy (Valin Shinyei) in the way, A Christmas Story 2 sees Ralphie do whatever he can to get the car and the girl of his dreams.
Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story is, in my opinion, the greatest Christmas film of all time. It has everything: drama, humor, emotion and relatability, providing nearly everyone who watches a reason to enjoy it. When a film is as well received as A Christmas Story natural progression states that a sequel is in the future (this being the first Christmas sequel). However, sometimes the reality of sequels is that they fall flat on their faces and fail to entertain in nearly any capacity. Sadly, A Christmas Story 2 is one of those sequels.
It feels like, from the opening moments, A Christmas Story 2 attempts to compete with its predecessor, a feat that feels nearly impossible. Every moment, line spoken and attempted comedic moment pulls viewers back to A Christmas Story, and, while nostalgia can be an effective tool, it is horribly frustrating here. Throughout this film, viewers are subjected to failed attempts to recreate what was so successful nearly twenty years before. With this is the attempted recreation of the iconic set of the Parkers’ home. While there are certainly similarities present on the set, it feels more like a reimagining than an actual recreation. There are many aspects of the set that feel off or out of place, and, while it is conceivable that the Parkers have renovated since the first installment of the A Christmas Story franchise, seeing as writer (and narrator) Nat Mauldin and director Brian Levant desperately attempted to cling to Christmases past, this seems unlikely. This oversight is just one of the many reasons that A Christmas Story 2 fails so miserably.
What adds to the disparaging nature of A Christmas Story 2 is the acting. Stern, Lemasters, Travis and Shinyei do the beloved characters no justice throughout their portrayal. Again, in an attempt to bring back to life the many well-received aspects of A Christmas Story, these actors (along with David Michael Paul and David Thompson--who play Schwartz and Flick respectively) try entirely too hard to look and sound like the originals that it comes off as nothing more that corny and ineffective. Furthermore, the more each actor attempted to convince the world that they were, in fact, these incredibly fun and interesting characters, the more difficult it became to believe.
With the inability to suspend disbelief, horrific acting and a story that resembled the famed A Christmas Story entirely too much, A Christmas Story 2 fails to entertain in even the most remedial fashion. I had low expectations for A Christmas Story 2 living up to the magic of the first film, but I never expected the franchise to fall so far from grace with this film’s release. Nothing about A Christmas Story 2 feels enjoyable. It feels impossible as a longtime fan of A Christmas Story to avoid this sequel forever, but if you’re just looking for some simple Christmas entertainment, literally anything else would be better.
Directed by Brian Levant. Written by Jean Shepard & Nat Mauldin. Starring Daniel Stern, Braeden Lemasters, Stacey Travis, Valin Shinyei, Gerard Plunkett, etc.
⭐½/10
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