Before I start, did you know they made a sequel to this movie this year? I mean, I assume it was direct to DVD, but more importantly, no one from this cast is in it, seeing as the original came out nearly 20 years ago. In fact, the father character is played by Larry the Cable Guy, which sounds horrible. One more reason I don't really understand why they'd make a sequel in today's day and age is that the whole conflict of this movie would not work in today's world thanks to the internet and cell phones.
The basic premise is pretty simple, after all, this movie was basically made to sell toys. Okay, so Arnold is a super hard-working guy who is constantly missing his kid's activities because he's working. The most recent of which is his son's (played by Jake Lloyd, aka Anakin Skywalker from Episode 1) karate upgrading belt ceremony. Insisting that he not disappoint their son again, she confirms that Arnold bought the Turbo Man action figure (called a doll by like half the people in the movie) that the boy's been wanting. Being cliche of a dad, he says of course, when in reality he totally forgot. And obviously everywhere is sold out. Here's a wonderful Chris Parnell cameo at the first store he goes to:
Meanwhile, because Arnold is out trying to find the toy on Christmas eve, their next door neighbor, Ted (played by the amazing Phil Hartman) steps in to help with the festivities like baking cookies and putting ornaments on the tree. He clearly is banging all the other moms in the cul de sac and now has his eyes set on Arnold's wife. This actually leads to a pretty funny exchange when Ted brings out a live reindeer, which Ted's son names Ted. Arnold calls to his home and Anakin answers and tells his dad that "Mom is next door petting Ted." Of course we know he means the reindeer, but Arnold thinks he's talking about the old timey slang for macking.
Oh! And this movie takes place in Minneapolis, so that's fun. Arnie goes to the Mall of America and there's a few other noticeable shots showing at least a little of this was actually filmed here. There's also a scene where Sinbad threatens a bunch of police officers with a package he claims is a bomb because "a bunch of bombs get sent through the mail every day." Haha! So funny! Except it's a real bomb that explodes in the mean cop's hands. Like at least eight cops just died.
Or they would have if this weren't a children's movie. Instead, they just look a little shell-shocked and the meanie is covered with soot.
Anyway, Arnold shows up to the Christmas parade as Turbo Man and makes his kid's whole life in a nicely wrapped up conclusion. It's a fairly sweet ending, even if the whole movie is about a toy.
Rating on the feel-good-o-meter: 4 out of 10 hugs
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