After much anticipation from fans, The Christmas Chronicles 2 has arrived on Netflix, bringing back Kurt Russell and his perpetually cool Santa Claus, his real wife Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus, and the Pierce family for another holiday adventure. Picking up where The Christmas Chronicles left off, the sequel finds Kate resentful during her favorite season and needing a little dose of Christmas cheer.

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She gets more than sugar plums when she's reunited with Santa, this time not just to save Christmas, but the entire North Pole from a resentful former employee at Santa's Workshop. The sequel more or less incorporates the themes from the first movie, but with a few new twists and surprises that should keep fans engaged and excited to continue with the franchise.

Different: The Siblings Exchange Attitudes

Santa and the kids on the sleigh in The Christmas Chronicles

Kate Pierce, the True Believer from the first movie who helped get Santa flying again with her bountiful Christmas spirit, isn't all that jolly this time around. A moody and disillusioned teenager, she detests spending time with Bob, her mother's new boyfriend, and resents that she has to play with his son Jack.

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Teddy was a glum car thief in the first movie, seen in the sequel as a happy-go-lucky optimist, while his sister completely forgets that Santa knows when she's been naughty or nice, and has decided to play the victim with her circumstances.

Same: Saving Christmas

Santa points at a bauble in The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

The first movie placed a disoriented Santa and his reindeer in Kate's backyard because a lack of Christmas spirit had rendered them immobile, but with help from her older brother, she was able to help get Santa and his sleigh back into the air and delivering presents by Christmas Eve.

Christmas is threatened in the sequel when an evil former elf, Belsnickel, decides to steal the star from the top of the tree in the middle of Santa's Christmas village, thereby removing the veil that protects it and leaving Santa and his loved ones defenseless.

Different: New Characters

Kate and Doug

While many characters from the original movie reappear, such as Santa, Mrs. Claus, Kate, her older brother, and more, there are plenty of new characters to keep things fresh. One of them is Bob, the charming man pursuing Kate's mom, and another is his precocious son Jack.

Other new characters include Belsnickel, the evil former elf, and Doug, Kate's father whom she meets in 1990 while stranded with Santa. There's even a nod to the Icelandic Christmas figure, the Yule Cat (Jola), and a number of fun cameos.

Same: Santa And The Elves

Evil elves in Christmas Chronicle.

Santa is back and as action-oriented as ever, with his red leather trenchcoat and his great affinity with children and animals. His elves are back to help him, and it seems like they have tremendous fun making the wide variety of toys and gifts for Christmas.

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The elves continue to look like anthropomorphic beaver/cat/chipmunks with beards, and speak in the Elvish tongue that only Kate and Santa can understand. At one point, coming in contact with some elf bane turns them psychotic, and they wave the tiniest chainsaws with reckless abandon.

Different: More Mrs. Claus

Mr. and Mrs. Claus laugh in Christmas Chronicles 2

Fans were elated when they found out that Mrs. Claus would be back for the sequel. Her cameo in the original movie was incredibly well-received, and in the new movie, her part is broadened even more once Kate and Jack reach the North Pole.

Mrs. Claus is invaluable to Santa when Dasher gets hurt, and helps Jack find his courage. Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have been together for thirty years, and watching them together is a pure delight.

Same: Life Lesson

The Christmas Chronicles scene with Santa Claus holding the Christmas star

The first movie dealt with the loss of childhood innocence and a lack of belief in the magic of Christmas. As Kate and her brother dealt with the death of their father and the knowledge that Christmas would never be the same, they began to understand that what was most important was being there for each other and their mother.

In the second movie, more life lessons are learned as the kids have to embrace changes to their family dynamic. Kate develops a deeper understanding of sacrifice and compromise and learns to put her trust in others, while her new friend Jack learns to put trust in himself and to protect the ones he cares about. Their journeys might be sappy to some viewers, but they pinpoint the true meaning of Christmas: selflessness.

Different: Santa Origin Story

The Christmas Chronicles 2 Santa Claus receives the Star of Bethlehem

When Kate and Jack decide to spend the night with Santa and Mrs. Claus, Mrs. Claus regales them with the story of Santa's origins 1,700 years before, when he was referred to as St. Nicholas and loved to give gifts to impoverished families and orphaned children.

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Due to his altruistic deeds, Santa was the only person the leader of the elves trusted to receive a portion of the star of Bethlehem. He used it to create the star ornament atop the Christmas tree in the center of Santa's village, where its light generates the veil that protects his magical realm.

Same: Show-Stopping Musical Numbers

Kurt Russell as Santa playing the sax in The Christmas Chronicles 2

In the first movie, Santa rocked the jailhouse in a rousing rendition of the famous Elvis Presley song "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," a perfect musical vehicle for Kurt Russell who so memorably starred in the underrated 3000 Miles To Graceland and once portrayed the King in a made-for-television movie about his life.

In the sequel, he performs an original number "The Spirit Of Christmas" at an airport which, while not as effective as the sequence from the first movie, is still enjoyable to watch if only because Russell gets to sing with the incomparable Darlene Love.

Different: Santa's Secret Village

christmas-chronicles-2-the-north-pole

While Kate spent time in the North Pole in the original movie, she didn't venture out into the streets of Santa's village. When she and Jack were able to get a personal tour from Santa and Mrs. Claus, she was able to see just how extensive it was, and how many gifts the elves could generate.

The elves not only make traditional wooden toys — they code video games, construct elaborate Lego sets, and all with an output greater than the largest manufacturers on Earth put together.

Different: A Villain

belsnickel the christmas chronicles 2

The original movie didn't have a centralized villain except for time, as the clock ran out on Christmas Eve for Santa and Kate to drum up enough Christmas spirit to power his sleigh and deliver all the presents. The sequel mostly solves that problem by giving the story a real antagonist: Belsnickel.

Once an elf who eventually turned human after his bitterness consumed him, Belsnickel blames Santa for abandoning him for the other children of the world and vows to steal the Christmas Star from Santa's village to show him who's boss. Played by rising star Julian Dennison, he would have been even more effective had he been given more to do than glower and grunt.

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