If you only see one movie this year... hopefully this isn't it. It's a good movie (I gave it an 8 out of 10 though I was probably a bit generous), but there are better ones out there. However, if you're an adult with children, or you just want to take a break from "serious cinema" and go on a shallow emotional roller-coaster ride, this is your ticket. Geared primarily for kids and the adults they drag along with them, this will probably appeal to those who may have had a bad experience with other holiday releases (i.e., one featuring a certain revamped Dr. Seuss character who shall remain nameless.) It's definitely one of those movies that you've got to allow to be corny, cheesey, and oftentimes sappy in order to enjoy it. If none of this appeals to you, then you'd best avoid this movie, because it's full of it. Though it makes up for it by having its share of in-jokes, parodies, and subtle "wink over the kid's heads" humor that won't make sense to them for a decade or so. Was it an unnecessary sequel? Perhaps. But as far as unnecessary sequels go, this is one of the better ones I've seen recently.
[Warning: single fathers with children may have difficulty explaining to their kids afterward why they can't go mother-shopping in Paris too. (And no, that's not a spoiler, you're told that much in newspaper blurbs.)]
[Warning: single fathers with children may have difficulty explaining to their kids afterward why they can't go mother-shopping in Paris too. (And no, that's not a spoiler, you're told that much in newspaper blurbs.)]