Elizabeth, Aria Noelle Curzon writes a letter to Santa, explaining that the citizens of Lakeville have left because of the evil scientist Ebner Frost Ed Begley Jr. who plans to buy the orphanage. He bullies Mr. Rini into selling his shoe store with the help of his henchmen, Drs. Blight, Watt, Flint, and Vial. Steve Valentine as Dr. Blight, Diane Robin as Dr. Watt, Kevin West as Dr. Flint, and Kai Ephron as Dr. Vial carry out their threats. Rini relents, and the orphanage becomes the last target in their scheme.
Blake Thorn, Hulk Hogan, a conceited self-made millionaire who sells bodybuilding supplements and equipment bearing his image, trains with his staff before joining a paintball squad. He is pursued by police, including Clint Howard as Hinkley, after a speeding incident. Escaping, he hides out at a shopping mall and changes into a Santa costume. He tricks Hinkley and another officer at first, until Hinkley spots Thorn’s paintball uniform and gives chase again. Blake hides in a garbage chute, but a janitor’s big Christmas display knocks him loose and sends him downward. An elf named Lenny, Don Stark, assumes he’s another drunk mall Santa and tries to rob him, only to realize he’s hit the jackpot when he finds Blake’s ID. Blake wakes with no memory of his name, but Lenny convinces him that he’s Santa.
Blake embraces the mall-Santa persona for the kids, until he sees two crooks stealing money set aside to help the orphanage. Santa battles the pair and earns a standing ovation from the long line of shoppers. Upon seeing a picture of the orphanage, Blake goes to visit and lends a hand after Dr. Blight nearly runs his ice-cream truck into Clayton Garrett Morris. Blake meets Leslie Robin Curtis and the last three children remaining: Taylor Adam Wylie, Sarah Mila Kunis, and Elizabeth. The news coverage labels Blake as “Santa with Muscles,” a moniker that follows him as he becomes increasingly involved with the orphanage’s fate. It’s revealed that Lenny owes money to Frost and Blight, and Frost wants Lenny to remove the Santa from the orphanage, not realizing the true identity beneath the suit.
Blake helps fend off an attack on the orphanage by Blight and Vial, while Taylor heads to Frost’s mansion to confront him. Blake catches up and has Lenny take the troublemaker back to the orphanage. The kids reveal there’s an underground vault beneath the building, and they share the three combination numbers; the fourth is discovered by Blake, who opens the vault to reveal geode-like crystals. Blake stays to understand how he knew the combination, while Lenny goes upstairs with the others.
The next morning, Blake defends the kids as Blight and his henchmen return, but a decorated Santa Claus knocks him aside and a garbage truck becomes involved in the chaos. He wakes up in his mansion and rallies his staff to fight Frost. They speed away in a bid to outrun the law, but more patrol cars tracking them try to blast them with rockets, ultimately destroying Hinkley’s car instead.
Blake rescues the kids, Leslie, and Clayton, who explains he once grew up in the orphanage with Ebner Frost as his best friend before a falling out. The group defeats the henchmen, and Lenny’s guilt about betraying the orphanage weighs on him. Frost and his crew are arrested, but the orphanage is damaged by the crystals’ overload. Frost’s compound is transformed into a new, functioning orphanage led by Blake, and many more orphans join the cause. From a distance, the group watches Frost and his henchman do hard labor in the prison yard, a sobering reminder of the consequences Frost faced.
