The 1983 classic A Christmas Story wasn't the first adaptation of Jean Shepherd's writings--PBS did some adaptations in the late seventies/early eighties. (In fact, if you do a YouTube search for "Phantom of the Open Hearth" you'll see the very first version of the leg lamp!) Nor was it the last--PBS did another adaptation in 1988 (Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss) and in 1994, there was a (very limited) theatrical release of It Runs In The Family (renamed My Summer Story for video), which was actually billed as the sequel to ACS. Whatever you may think of these two follow-ups/sequels (and many do enjoy them), they're worthy to be called sequels because they both come directly from Jean Shepherd's writings and feature his narration.

Not so with the so-called "official" sequel--2012's direct-to-DVD A Christmas Story 2. This has nothing to do with anything Shepherd wrote and is merely an exploitative cash grab that fans saw through in a heartbeat.

The movie takes place in 1946, with Ralphie now fifteen years old and his brother Randy around eleven. In a blatant re-tread of the original movie's plot, Ralphie's heart's desire this Christmas is his first car (that, and the love of the prettiest girl in school). What's more, the movie re-hashes story beats and jokes from the first one--some of them lifted clean! (For example: Flick sticking his tongue into a mail tube for no apparent reason than to call back to the flagpole, a re-tread of "Oh, fudge!", Ralphie dropping hints about his gift at the breakfast table...sometimes it seems this movie is jumping up and down, waving its arms, and yelling, "Look! Look! We're calling back to the first movie! See?! SEE?!?!?!")

The acting talent among most of the cast is all right but nothing to shout about. Daniel Stern and Beverly D'Angelo play Ralphie's folks, which could have been good, but Stern especially simply tries to copy Darren McGavin's performance without putting his own stamp on it. (And does it WAY too exaggeratedly.)

That's one of the main failings of ACS2--it just TRIES too hard. Instead of the wry, gentle humor that characterizes Jean Shepherd's work, it goes for cartoony, slapstick, and farcical. (And the slapstick sequences seem more along the lines of The Three Stooges on steroids rather than the subtler humor of the first movie.) Even when ACS touched on the cartoony and over-the-top, the characters were grounded in reality--they just seemed real and relatable. This movie seems like nothing more than a live-action Hanna-Barbera cartoon (to the point where they actually dub in Hanna-Barbera-ish cartoon sound effects over certain slapstick sequences!).

There's still narration by adult Ralphie...but since Shepherd had passed away long ago (and I can't see him giving his stamp of approval to this if he HAD been alive), there's a different voice actor. He's trying desperately to sound like Shep, but sounds more like Adam West after too much coffee.

In short, this would be a Rifftrax field day for the holidays...perhaps for a Rifftrax Live. (Ironically, the same year, another adaptation of ACS came out...the stage musical. But with wit, genuineness and a great score, it served the source material much better.)