The Christmas Chronicles (2018) Review – Kurt Russell is the Coolest Santa Ever

🎬 Introduction — Santa Got Style

🎄 This review is part of the Best Christmas Movies 2025 – find your next cosy family movie night in our festive guide.

Usually, Santa Claus is portrayed as a soft, gentle grandfather figure. Kurt Russell looked at that tradition and said, “Nah, let’s make him a rock star.” The Christmas Chronicles, produced by Chris Columbus (yes, the Home Alone and Harry Potter guy), is a shot of adrenaline for the holiday genre.

It starts with a classic setup: a family grieving the loss of their father, a cynical teenager, and a true-believer younger sister. But once Santa enters the picture, the movie shifts gears into an action-comedy road trip through Chicago.

For a dad, this is the “cool” Christmas movie. It’s got car chases, jailhouse rock numbers, and a Santa who complains about how fake news portrays him as fat. It’s designed to keep the kids entertained with spectacle while giving the adults a lead performance that is just pure charisma.

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The Christmas Chronicles 1 & 2 (DVD) (opens in a new tab)

Festive, family-friendly adventures starring Kurt Russell as a scene-stealing Santa. Two heartwarming holiday movies packed with humor, music, and cozy rewatch vibes—perfect for December movie nights.

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🧠 Story & Themes — Believing is Seeing

The story revolves around Teddy and Kate Pierce. Teddy (Judah Lewis) has turned into a bit of a delinquent since his dad died (a firefighter, naturally), stealing cars and rejecting Christmas spirit. Kate (Darby Camp) is holding on tight to the traditions. They plan to catch Santa on camera, but end up crashing his sleigh.

The “saving Christmas” plot is standard, but the emotional arc is solid. It’s about Teddy processing his grief and stepping up to be the big brother his sister needs. Santa acts as a mentor figure, tough but caring, guiding Teddy back to the right path.

The theme of “belief” is central. In this world, Christmas spirit powers the sleigh. As people lose hope, the magic fades. It’s a simple metaphor, but it works. It connects the personal grief of the Pierce family to the global stakes of the holiday.

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🎭 Characters & Performances — The Kurt Russell Show

Let’s be honest: without Kurt Russell, this movie would be a 6/10. With him, it’s an 8. He is having the time of his life. His Santa is a bit vain, a bit grumpy, but deeply magical. He knows everyone’s name and their secret wish. He commands the screen. When he performs a blues number in a jail cell with Steven Van Zandt (yes, from the E Street Band), it’s a moment of pure movie magic.

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The kids are good, too. Darby Camp is adorable and earnest as Kate, and Judah Lewis does a good job of making a sullen teen sympathetic. They have good sibling chemistry.

The elves… well, they are clearly modeled after the Minions. They are small, CGI, speak a made-up language, and are agents of chaos. Kids will love them; adults might find them a bit much. But they serve their purpose.

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🎨 Visual Style, Animation & Audio — Glossy and Bright

This is a high-budget Netflix production, and it shows. The visual effects for the sleigh, the reindeer, and the magic are top-notch. The flight sequences feel fast and dangerous. The “wormhole” travel effect is a cool visual twist on how Santa gets around the world so fast.

The Chicago setting (again! Chris Columbus loves Chicago) looks great, all wet streets and neon lights. It feels like a real city, not a soundstage.

The soundtrack is a mix of classic rock and Christmas standards, fitting Russell’s vibe perfectly. The “Santa Claus is Back in Town” musical number is the highlight.

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👨‍👧 The Dad Perspective — Action-Packed Holiday

Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes. It moves fast.

Suitability: It’s rated PG, but it has a bit of edge. Teddy steals a car. There are police chases. Santa gets arrested. It’s “action movie” violence, not “scary” violence. Think Transformers level of intensity but toned down for Christmas. 7+ is a safe bet.

The “Cool” Factor: If your kids are “too old” for The Polar Express or Arthur Christmas, this is the bridge movie. It treats Santa as a superhero rather than a fairy tale.

Rewatch Value: It’s fun. It’s not deep, but it’s fun. We watch it when we want energy in the room.

The sequel: If your family enjoys The Christmas Chronicles, the sequel is on Netflix and worth one watch — Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus is exactly as enjoyable as casting Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus sounds. The plotting is thinner and it leans harder on CGI action than the original, but the Hawn appearance earns it, and it fills a December afternoon well.

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🎸 Kurt Russell’s Santa: The Career Move That Made Sense and Shouldn’t Have

By 2018, Kurt Russell had been a major film star for forty years. Escape from New York, The Thing, Tombstone, Backdraft, Tango & Cash — the man had a filmography built on a very specific brand of cool. Masculine, laconic, slightly dangerous. He was famous for playing characters who moved through chaos without losing their composure.

So: Santa Claus.

It sounds like a joke, and Chris Columbus was clearly counting on the audience’s amusement at the casting before the film had even started. The joke — which turns out not to be a joke at all — is that Russell’s specific brand of cool works perfectly for this version of the character. His Santa isn’t jolly. He’s competent. He’s the guy who has done this three thousand times and knows where everything is, who knows every kid’s name, and who has exactly zero patience for complications on Christmas Eve. His expressions of irritation when the reindeer scatter or when the kids make things difficult are not played for sweetness. They’re played like a professional encountering amateurs on game day. The humor comes from the collision of those two registers.

The musical number in the jail cell — where Russell’s Santa performs a blues song with actual musicians who were clearly having the time of their lives — is the sequence that reveals what the casting was always going to be. You need someone who can walk into a room, pick up an instrument, and command it without explanation. Very few actors can do that convincingly. Russell can, because he’s actually a musician. The performance isn’t acted credibility — it’s credibility.

Russell’s production choices also explain the film’s production values. He brought in Goldie Hawn for the Mrs. Claus appearance in the sequel. He was reportedly closely involved in the character development. This was not a paycheck performance; this was someone with enough leverage to make the role what he thought it should be. The result is a Santa who feels like he was designed by someone who thought hard about what the coolest possible Santa would look like.

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✅ Pros & Cons

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📌 FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a sequel?

Yes, The Christmas Chronicles 2 came out in 2020. It features more of Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus. It’s… okay, but the first one is better.

Is it scary?

Not really. There are some tense moments with the police and some “bad guys” who kidnap the reindeer, but it’s all very PG action.

Does Santa really sing?

Yes! Kurt Russell does his own singing. It’s a great scene.

Is Chris Columbus connected to the Home Alone films?

Yes — Chris Columbus directed both Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). He served as producer on The Christmas Chronicles, not director — the film was directed by Clay Kaytis. Columbus’s influence is visible in the Chicago setting and the film’s structural similarities to Home Alone: a kid in a dangerous city, relying on improvisation.

Is The Christmas Chronicles 2 worth watching?

It depends. Part 2 brings in Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus — which is worth the price of admission on its own — and adds a villain in the form of a former elf. The plotting is weaker than the original, and it leans harder on CGI action. If you loved the first one, watch it once. But the original is clearly the stronger film.