After eight years, we now have, The Santa Clause -- the sequel. And several Grinch-like critics agree: it was not worth the wait. "It's like one of the heavily advertised, much coveted toys that become garage-sale fodder before the tree has even been dismantled," writes A.O. Scott in the New York Times. Melinda Ennis writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that "where the original had a subtle sweetness with softly dry humor and genuine wide-eyed wonder for the children, this one has heavy-handed sentimentality and redundant gags hammered with action-film high jinks." On the other hand, Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times is utterly charmed by the film, saying that "it's more engaging, assured and funny" than the original "and I liked it more." And Michael Moore in the Denver Post argues that "objecting to the current version of Santa Clause would be just so much legal hairsplitting and humbugging. Let the holidays begin."