The Christmas Chronicles is a perfectly okay family Netflix original Christmas movie. Is that enough qualifiers? Aside from Kurt Russel's performance as Santa, the rest of the movie is maybe half a step above a Hallmark Christmas movie. The plot is overly generic to the point where anyone who has ever seen a movie can tell you what happens next and the CGI is pretty terrible. It's stupid and saccharine and I can just imagine a grandmother and her 7 year-old granddaughter watching it on an endless loop in their matching Christmas pajamas. Netflix original movies seem to usually have that straight-to-DVD feel, so it fits that the acting feel pretty budget friendly. Kurt Russel does a great job and I actually believed him as Santa. The supporting cast has a few recognizable faces, but none get enough time to make a real difference. The main cast is rounded out with a decent teen actor and a disappointing one. Judah Lewis does a well enough job but no great, but Darby Camp has had far too many roles to be this bad. While I have to make some concessions due to her age, she plays her role far too "big" and Broadway. The Christmas Chronicles isn't going to replace Elf or Home Alone in anyone's Christmas rituals, but if you need a Christmas film that will entertain kids but isn't offensively childish, this would work. For me, as an adult, it wasn't particularly funny, there are quite a few plot holes, and the way they do Santa's elves just oozes corporate greed looking to make the new Porg or Minion. It's fine; I probably won't watch it again, but I don't regret seeing it once.