The first 'Jingle All the Way' may not have been a great film as such, and it is not hard to find fault with it, but it is somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me. Do find it quite fun and it has its charm, even if it is silly and predictable. My first instant thought hearing that there was a second film was "why was this made, and what's the point", as 'Jingle All the Way' really did not need a second film.
My questioning the point of 'Jingle All the Way 2' thoughts still stand. Was not in a way expecting it to be good, but saw it out of curiosity as there have been many films seen that do not look or sound good before release and being advertised. Yet they turn out to be surprisingly good when seeing it, often falling victim to bad or misleading marketing. 'Jingle All the Way 2' turned out not just not good, it was terrible. It's not funny, it has no charm whatsoever, has all the faults of the first film and amplifies them while having even more and is just poorly made. 'Jingle All the Way' was in no way a masterpiece and had its issues, but it is a gem compared to this trainwreck of a follow-up that had absolutely no point to it whatsoever.
'Jingle All the Way 2's' production values have direct to video quality all over it. It all looks as if it was made in haste and on a relatively tight budget, which would have been more forgivable if the rest of the film executed its other components well but it ends up making a complete hash of everything. The soundtrack is the one saving grace as it is catchy and is quite good on its own, the problem is how it is used, more often than not being too random and obvious in placement.
Frequently the script is juvenile and goes well overboard on the stupidity. The humour is never quite offensive but is crude and tired, namely in the verbal comedy, with jokes that would have been well past their sell by date years ago and the sight gags are just non-stop stupid. There is also a cloying sentimentality in places that never tugs at the heart and becomes difficult to stomach, namely with Larry and Noel. The story is episodic, like a series of increasingly uninteresting vignettes cobbled together, cardboard thin and at times repetitive, much more variety was needed. It becomes increasingly dull, everything is easily telegraphed far too early and is completely charmless with very little feeling of festive cheer. Feeling more like a dumber, more predictable and bland retread of 'Jingle All the Way' with the banter between Larry and Claude taking up far too much time, something that is never either remotely amusing or interesting. The climax is also very rushed and contrived.
Really disliked the characters too, all of them being truly obnoxious and severely underdeveloped cliches, complete with cartoonish conflict and never once having a feeling of things being at stake when one knows always how it's going to turn out. They are also poorly acted, generally over-played, with nobody giving a good performance or coming off unscathed. Larry the Cable Guy just does his usual lowbrow schtick that has been unfunny, annoying and stale for a very long time, have actually never found him amusing or likeable. The direction is uninspired at best.
Overall, terrible in every way with holiday fun nowhere in sight here. 1/10
