This movie is awesome!!! It is the best "Santa Claus" movie I've watched in my life, no cliche intended. I don't like watching movies twice, but I will catch this one again.
Kurt Russell plays a cool and down to earth Santa Claus. He blows all of the stereotypes to smithereens. If you are a Holy Spirit filled Christian who knows your Bible, then you will notice without a doubt the NUMEROUS parallels between this story and the New Testament of the Bible. The best part is that the movie manages to achieve this without ever making intentional religious puns. It is genius. It is as if "Santa Claus" represents the Holy Spirit, which moves like the wind that nobody can control (in the sense that the Holy Spirit is sovereign over all that happens, but you only understand that at the very end of the movie). In the movie, Santa goes into dark places of society to rescue people with the "spirit of Christmas" (i.e.: the mission of the Holy Spirit). The cops take him to jail, but it is evident at the end of the movie that even that might have been a trap. He allowed himself to go to jail to touch the life those who were in there, both of the hardened cops and thieves, all of which he knows by name, including current situations that are going on in their personal lives. This is reflective of the Holy Spirit stepping into the darkness of our lives to rescue us, after all, Christ is King over the darkness. Similarly, just as the Christian Bible alludes to the fact that Christ trapped death instead of death trapping when he said at the cross "It is finished!", so did "Santa" in the movie allowed various seemingly crazy situations to happen to himself so that he could bring light into other people's lives. Another awesome detail about this movie is that Santa is humble and down to earth. Despite of all his gifts, not for a moment he shows an attitude of feeling like he better than anyone. Instead, he is portrayed as a man on a mission, who has humbly accepted the beautiful role that he plays in making the world a better place. Also, he treats all adults as if they were the very same children who used to believe in him and write him letters. Back in his home in the North Pole, he has an archive of all the letters that he has received from everyone over the years, which is a symbolism of: God's love for all of us, of how important our feelings are for God as His children, and also that He listens to every single one of our prayers. Another interesting detail is that Santa has a book with a page per family, showing their genealogy. If a family member's name is written in the book then it means that they are "nice". Otherwise, if their spot in the book is empty, it means that they are "naughty". This "nice-naughty" book is a symbolism for the "Book of Life" that is described in the Book of Revelations of the Bible. In addition, the fact that family members whose names are not written in the book still have a spot in the book is indicative that 'Santa" has hope that they will become good people one day, which is a symbolism of God's never ending, continuous, pursuit of our hearts in order to save us and bring us back home to Him. Another interesting detail is that the little girl that is helping Santa suddenly starts to understand and speak Santa's "elvish" mother tongue, which he uses to communicate with his elves. This is a symbolism of her being "baptized by the Holy Spirit" and speaking in tongues which she could not before, in the language of the angels, in this case, the little elves that help Santa (or the Holy Spirit). Finally, Santa manages to put the older boy who is helping him in a few situations that lead him to awaken to identity once again, an identity that he lost once his earthly father died. This is a symbolism of how the Holy Spirit leads us into knowing our identity as children of our Heavenly Father.
In all, this is a fantastic movie. I give my two thumbs up. I pray that the Holy Spirit will also give you even more revelation of love, identity, and power as you catch this movie with your family. I highly recommend it!