A Christmas Story is one of the best Christmas classics out there, but it’s hard to say the same for its sequel. A straight-to-DVD sequel, it can only be assumed that the quality of this plot is below par.
In A Christmas Story 2, Peter Billingsley, who starred as Ralphie in the first film is nowhere in this film. He is replaced by Braeden Lemasters, who is probably best known as “Eighth Grade Kid” in Easy A. Darren McGavin, who played the old man, was replaced with Daniel Stern. Needless to say, the stars of the film can’t live up to the original acting.
The film’s idea is just dumb to begin with. Ralphie is 16 now and wants a car, but (without spoiling the story), he has to get $85 by Christmas Eve or he’ll have to go to jail.
Sounds just like every ABC Family made-for-TV Christmas movie.
In the first film, Ralph wanted a BB gun for Christmas, which gave the movie a cute charm to it. The writers and directors were creative with the idea, plus they made the film funny to the audience with such memorable lines as “You’ll shoot your eye out.” Unfortunately, the sequel was pretty much a cheap rip-off of the original, without even using a new creative plot. The “You’ll shoot your eye out” ripped-off again; the silly Christmas outfit made by Aunt Clara is ripped-off again; and the leg lamp makes a reappearance.
During most parts of the film, you don’t really even see Ralphie. The plot seems to center more on his parents and little brother. I mean, for a moment, I forgot about Ralph.
This movie had like two or three parts that actually made me laugh a little. I can see why no one knew this movie even existed; I wouldn’t want to talk about this film either. I would rate it 4 out of 10 for its lack of creativity and the fact that it’s just trying to remake a classic with a stupid plot.