A Christmas Story 2

A Christmas Story 2
DVD cover
Directed byBrian Levant
Written byNat Mauldin
Based onIn God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash
by Jean Shepherd
Produced byBrian Levant
Phillip B. Goldfine
Starring
Narrated byNat Mauldin
CinematographyJan Kiesser
Edited byRoger Bondelli
Music byDavid Newman
Production
companies
Warner Premiere
Hollywood Media Bridge
Telvan Productions
Turner Entertainment
Distributed byWarner Home Video
Release date
  • October 30, 2012 (2012-10-30)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A Christmas Story 2 is a 2012 American Christmas comedy film directed by Brian Levant and starring Daniel Stern and Braeden Lemasters.[1] The film is a direct sequel to the 1983 film A Christmas Story and ignores the events of the 1994 film My Summer Story.[2][3] The film, set six years after the original, follows fifteen-year-old Ralphie as he wishes for a 1939 Mercury Eight convertible for Christmas, but crashes the car before he even owns it. Now, Ralphie and his friends, Flick and Schwartz, must find a way to raise enough money to fix the car before Christmas.[4]

Although billed as an "official sequel" in the trailer, the film is not directly based on any of Jean Shepherd's writings nor is he involved due to his death in 1999.[5][6] Instead, it has an original script by Nat Mauldin, who also narrates in place of the late Shepherd (the subplot of Ralphie and his friends finding jobs and getting fired was originally by Shepherd and had previously been included in Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss).

The film was released straight to DVD by Warner Home Video on October 30, 2012, to mostly negative reviews.[7] A second direct sequel, which takes place 33 years after the events of the original film with most of its original cast returning, titled A Christmas Story Christmas, was released on November 17, 2022, on HBO Max and received generally better critical reception.[8][9]

Plot

The film takes place in 1946, six years after the events of the original film. Ralphie is now fifteen years old, and all he wants is a used 1939 Mercury Eight convertible for Christmas. He tries testing the car out when he sees it on a display ramp, but he accidentally causes the car to roll back out of the used car lot and gently tap a light pole, causing a plastic reindeer to loosen and fall through the convertible top. Ralphie bands together with Flick and Schwartz to raise enough money to pay the dealer back for fixing it before Christmas so that the car dealer won't have Ralph arrested and presumably thrown in jail. He and his friends get a job and after going through several departments at the Higbee's store and in the end getting into a fight with the store Santa and then each other they all get fired. Ralphie does get his job back after some begging and pleading, but by Christmas Eve he finds he is still $1 short, so he and Flick rob Schwartz of his "lucky buck". While on the way to the dealer, Ralphie decides to donate a chunk for a less fortunate family. He winds up still off the hook with the owner of the dealership. In the end, he does get the car he wants for Christmas and the girlfriend he wants to go with it.

Cast

  • Braeden Lemasters as Ralph "Ralphie" Parker
    • Nat Mauldin as the Narrator[10]
  • Daniel Stern as Mr. Parker / The Old Man
  • Stacey Travis as Mrs. Parker
  • Valin Shinyei as Randy Parker
  • David W. Thompson as Flick
  • David Buehrle as Schwartz
  • Tiera Skovbye as Drucilla Gootrad
  • Gerard Plunkett as Hank Catenhauser
  • Garry Chalk as Higbee's Store Santa (uncredited)
  • Shawn Macdonald as Higbee's Assistant Manager

Production

A Christmas Story 2 was filmed in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.[11] The meat market scene was filmed in the Gastown section of Vancouver, British Columbia.[12] The department store scene was in the city's primary train station.

The film had no involvement from Peter Billingsley, who had played Ralphie in the original film[13] and indicated he had been pitched several proposals for sequels to A Christmas Story but rejected them all until 2022's A Christmas Story Christmas: "There's been some bad ideas that I've been pitched. Or people just wanting to monetize it. Any time something's successful, you know Hollywood: 'Do it again, do it again, do it again.' (...) The low-hanging fruit [was always], 'Ralphie wants something new. What object do adults want? And he'll go crazy trying to get it.' [There's] just no thought being put into what that journey was".[14][15] Billingsley has, to date, refused to watch A Christmas Story 2.[16]

Release

The film was released straight to DVD on October 30, 2012.[1][17][18][19][20] The DVD and Blu-ray versions included special features such as three bonus featurettes focusing on connecting the sequel to the original film, which include: "Catching Up With Ralphie and His Family," which features an overview of the returning characters aged five years; "A Christmas Story We All Know and Love," which highlights the charm and holiday elements of the franchise, and "The House 5 Years Older", which is a sneak peek at updates to the iconic Christmas Story house, which included holiday decorations like lights and a leg lamp.[21]

In 2019, the film aired as part of the Best Christmas Ever block on AMC.[22] As of 2023, it is available for streaming on HBO Max.[23]

Critical reception

The film received mostly negative reviews. While being praised for attempts to portray 1940s-era America, much of the criticism was directed at the reliance of slapstick humor and its inferior derivation of the 1983 film.[24][25] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes it has only three reviews from critics, all of them negative.[26]

Critics panned the film for being an unnecessary and inferior sequel to the 1983 film.[27] The website FleshEatingZipper stated that the slapstick elements in the film detracted from the movie while praising the attempt to "replicate a 40s-era Midwest".[28] Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com wrote: "Shamelessly derivative and plasticized, A Christmas Story 2 will only have you wondering why you're not watching the original picture again".[29]

Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media noted that there's "silly jokes abound but it's no original Christmas Story," and faulted that the teen-focused plot about Ralphie's obsession with a car and a girl is far less engaging than the child's BB gun fixation in its predecessor.[30] Despite this, Chen praised the casting of Braeden Lemasters as a teenaged Ralphie Parker, who said "believably" resembles Peter Billingsley's original portrayal from the first film while also praising Daniel Stern as a "passable" Old Man.[30] The website HaphazardStuff stated that, while praising the nostalgic appeal of the period-accurate old cars in the background and the narration's resemblance to Jean Shepherd's style, the site criticized the weak script and the exploitative cash-grab feel of the film.[31] Similarly, Daniel Barnes of the Dare Daniel podcast rated the film a 1 out of 5, describing it as "a mean, angry, assaultive and annoying series of nostalgic callbacks and nasty characters."[32]

The film frequently appears on lists of the worst sequels and worst holiday movies of all time, with much of the criticism centering on its lack of charm and fidelity to Jean Shepherd's source material.[33][34][35][36]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Doty, Meriah (August 13, 2012). "'A Christmas Story 2′ goes straight to DVD". Yahoo Movies. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  2. ^ Barker, Stephen (November 23, 2022). "A Christmas Story: 10 Unpopular Opinions About The Movies, According To Reddit". Screen Rant. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  3. ^ Lapreziosa, Madeline (December 8, 2024). "A Christmas Story Has Even More Sequels Than You Realize". ComicBook.com. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  4. ^ Young, RJ (February 21, 2017). "The Real Reason These Sequels Took Decades To Happen". Looper. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  5. ^ Ryan, Kyle (December 23, 2013). "A Christmas Story 2 honors a holiday classic through awkward imitation". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  6. ^ Fitzgerald, Toni (November 17, 2022). "'A Christmas Story' Bully Explains How The Sequel Finally Got Made". Forbes. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  7. ^ Chaney, Jen (August 16, 2012). "'A Christmas Story 2' actually happened?". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  8. ^ Kit, Borys (January 20, 2022). "'A Christmas Story' Sequel Set With Original Star Peter Billingsley". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  9. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 24, 2022). "HBO Max Dates Four Holiday Movies Including Sequel A Christmas Story Christmas". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  10. ^ Hunter, Rob (December 25, 2018). "'A Christmas Story 2' Is A Lump Of Coal In Moving Picture Form". SlashFilm. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  11. ^ Beck, Marilyn; Jenel Smith, Stacy (January 17, 2012). "A Christmas Story Sequel in Pre-production". Beck/Smith Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 24, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  12. ^ Turner, Allie (December 9, 2022). "You'll never guess which iconic Christmas movies were filmed in Vancouver". Vancouver is Awesome. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  13. ^ Vaux, Robert (November 25, 2022). "A Christmas Story Already Had a Sequel, and It Was Terrible". CBR. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  14. ^ Polowy, Kevin (November 18, 2022). "'A Christmas Story' star Peter Billingsley reveals why he's finally reprising Ralphie and all the bad sequel ideas he's heard over the years". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  15. ^ Arevalo, Gabriela (November 21, 2022). "'A Christmas Story' star Peter Billingsley shares the 'bad ideas' that were pitched for the sequel". Audacy. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  16. ^ Lenker, Maureen Lee (November 18, 2022). "Why a grown-up Ralphie decided to make a sequel to 'A Christmas Story'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  17. ^ Trumbore, Dave (September 5, 2012). "Trailer for A CHRISTMAS STORY 2 on Blu-ray and DVD: The Holiday Gift for People You Hate". Collider. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  18. ^ Lesnick, Silas (September 5, 2012). "Watch the Trailer for A Christmas Story 2". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  19. ^ O'Neal, Sean (September 6, 2012). "A Christmas Story 2". AV Club. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  20. ^ Fischer, Russ (September 5, 2012). "'A Christmas Story 2' Trailer: The Lamp Is Back". Slash Film. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  21. ^ "'A Christmas Story 2'? Yup". Akron Beacon Journal. August 15, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  22. ^ "Archive 2019". Christmas TV Schedule. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  23. ^ "What's New on Max This November". Warner Bros. Discovery. October 23, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  24. ^ Joest, Mick (December 7, 2018). "A Christmas Story 2 Is The Godawful Sequel People Have To Watch". CinemaBlend. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  25. ^ Orange, B. Alan (December 23, 2017). "Christmas Story 2 Vs. Jingle All the Way 2: Which Is Worse?". MovieWeb. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  26. ^ "A Christmas Story 2 (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  27. ^ "Review: A Christmas Story … 2?". RobOHara.com. December 21, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  28. ^ N (November 2, 2012). "'A Christmas Story 2' Review: I Paid $3.99 To Recommend You Not Watch This". FleshEatingZipper. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  29. ^ Orndorf, Brian (November 4, 2012). "A Christmas Story 2 Review". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  30. ^ a b Angulo Chen, Sandie. "A Christmas 2 Movie Review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  31. ^ "A Christmas Story 2 (2012) – A Review". HaphazardStuff. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  32. ^ Barnes, Daniel (December 24, 2018). "Dare Daniel – 'A Christmas Story 2'". Dare Daniel (Podcast). Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  33. ^ Kinnear, Simon (December 9, 2013). "100 Worst Christmas Movies". GamesRadar+. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  34. ^ Weinberg, Scott (July 8, 2015). "10 Famous Movies With Direct-to-Video Sequels Nobody Remembers". Mental Floss. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  35. ^ Niethamer, Brett E. (August 16, 2020). "10 Of The Worst Sequels Ever Made". The Holy Goof. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  36. ^ Azeem, Safwan (September 21, 2025). "The 10 Worst Movie Sequels That Felt Like a Middle Finger to Fans of the Original". Collider. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
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