The Christmas Chronicles Review

The Christmas Chronicles is a Netflix Original film that follows two siblings as they stumble across the legendary and magical Santa Claus (Kurt Russell). The eldest has become somewhat unstable after a recent loss within their family whereas the young sister is still into the spirit of the holiday. This is definitely a generic Christmas tale in terms of it being about capturing that holiday spirit once more. It does however get a bit weird in an enjoyable way presenting a gritty, less jolly version of Santa.

Those types of moments were actually the strongest part of this, where Santa would get all hostile and or not really care about the outcome of his actions. There were some rather insane elves here that brought levels of violence, but they were animated in a happy way so that aspect might get overlooked a bit. It was certainly something anyone in the family could watch, perhaps more appealing to those older that might be tired of this type of story. They had some weird scenes in here, a well done musical number and Santa pulling off some mystical tricks that confused the general populous.

This really was about the family at its core, two people trying to reclaim love for a holiday that has become a sorrowing time. It builds this up correctly at the start and then throws you into the action. It really doesn't waste any time aside from establishing the core beliefs of the two siblings. I found the acting to be alright, Kurt Russel nailed that rugged Santa and was hilarious.

The lack of care and just doing whatever worked here. Others were fairly funny, this mostly being the side characters they'd run into during their ventures. The two kids were alright for the most part. The CGI was fine, it had some glaring moments to it and I wasn't blown away. That being said, it wasn't too horrible and it felt right for this type of film where everything is a bit over the top.

The Conclusion

The Christmas Chronicles presents a generic holiday film with a different, modern and gritty take on Santa Claus. I found that it worked, a very humorous type of take. They certainly never tried to be too serious with the character and I thought this was fine. It's a decent movie, I really didn't hate it though I'll probably forget it over time.

It's something to watch over the holidays and it'll provide a few laughs along the way. It's appropriate for all ages, I believe the younger audience will enjoy it while the older ones will find some of it funny and enjoy this casual no cares Clause. The CGI could have been better, it works for this type of film though so I won't complain about it too much.

The Christmas Chronicles Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 6.0