The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

Santa Claus is up against an evil Jack Frost in "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause". Scott Calvin/Santa Claus is preparing for another Christmas at the North Pole when a mischievous Jack Frost (Martin Short) has plans to take over his place as the head of Christmas. Jack Frost finds a clause in Santa's contract that he uses to become Santa, a whole bunch of nonsense happens in the middle frame, and finally it's a battle between the two for the title of Santa Claus. Who will win? I think that's pretty obvious.

Boy, this third film in the series was a real letdown. I didn't enjoy the second Santa Clause as much as the first, but even it had more going for it than this. The problem with this one was really the characters, I disliked about 70% of them. Carol's parents are absolute fools. When they come for a visit, Carol and her hubby Santa lead them to believe that the North Pole is actually Canada and that all Canadians are just really short people ... and here's the thing ... they actually believe it. Just a complete dumbing down of characters. Curtis the Elf is more annoying than he was in the second film, the little girl Lucy (who has really taken over Charlie's role as the "cute kid") is really irritating at times, and Jack Frost himself is a very blah villain who really just adds nothing to the movie.

I was a teenager when I watched Santa Clause 3 the first time, and during it I was wondering what I would've thought of it as a young child. I don't think as a 6-10 year old that this would've really engaged me or interested as much as the original "The Santa Clause" did to be honest. What really put me off was that this third film basically ignored Scott's son Charlie and just threw in Neil and Laura's daughter Lucy in his place (which did not work for me at all). The characters were lame, the Canada jokes were hokey and The Santa Clause 3 just wasn't that good at all.

4/10

We just saw this movie tonight. I was surprised to see it out so far ahead of Christmas, but looked forward to it having seen the first two and enjoyed them. The special effects are as good as before and it was a treat seeing all the actors back. Didn't really miss Bernard until it was over when it suddenly hit me he wasn't in this movie. I was getting kinda irritated with the negative in-laws and thinking I didn't like the whole film until the end which had me laughing and really enjoying myself. Know I'm a sap, but I LIKED the warm fuzzy feeling of family and friends coming together. Martin Short was pretty good as Jack Frost. Tim Allen was perfect as Santa and Mrs. Santa is lovely. If you enjoy seeing movies just for light entertainment, I think you might enjoy this movie.

I just got back from seeing this movie and I have to say it was pretty good. I didn't go to the theater with high hopes, however, so it was easy to meet my expectations. We loved the other 2 movies and had to finish the trilogy! This one could be titled Santa gets a midlife crisis--the plot is based on Scott's frustration over having so many responsibilities and not enough time with his family. There are some disappointments; of course, Bernard isn't in it and we all love him; just one line with no explanation tells us he must be gone. Also, Santa doesn't seem himself; yes, he's frustrated, but you don't see the excitement he had before. And,the plot gets resolved so close to the ending that you still haven't processed it, and the credits are rolling! But if you liked the other movies, go see this one; it's not as action packed, it's a little sappy, but it's clean fun and you'll laugh if you let yourself!

Just remember that it's not Shakespeare, it's just a Christmas movie. Go and have some fun! Enjoy the Canada subplot, eh?

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is badly missing Bernard, direction, and more importantly, comedy! The jokes, if there were any, just weren't funny. Charlie was barely even in the film as well.

Next, turning the North Pole into Canada for in-laws is also an awful subplot. This means the script is relying heavily on new characters to help carry the film. How did it ever get approved?

It does not work because this results in 90 percent of the movie being filmed at the North Pole. Both The Santa Clause (1994) and The Santa Clause 2 (2002) had the perfect balance of life in America around Christmastime and at the North Pole. Too much in one spot hurts the film.

Then there's Jack Frost (Martin Short), who was way underutilized in this movie. Magical water globes in a secret room that can alter the existence of a particular Santa Claus forever? I don't get it. This may seem creative, but why would it exist at the North Pole near Santa? It's beyond silly.

Lastly, we never get to see Santa Claus (Scott Calvin) with all of his reindeer delivering presents or doing anything like that as St. Nick. Scott having a midlife crisis as Santa or questioning whether or not he made the right choice in becoming Kris Kringle are both better ideas for a plot than featuring in-laws.

Okay, I will start off with the cons first. The story is very predictable and uneven, and there is an anti-climatic ending that really does detract from the fun the film does have. The film also suffers from the direction needing a much harder edge. However, my biggest con was that the messages about commercialising Christmas being evil felt misplaced. Despite its flaws, it is a mildly enjoyable family film, even if it did mean it is my least favourite of the three movies. The film visually is quite possibly the most colourful of the three, the special effects with the exception of the reindeer who look as though they have been stuffed were above average, and the cinematography is nice. There are some good laughs mostly from Jack Frost and the Experimental Elf, and the acting was amiable. While generously underplaying, Tim Allen once again does a good job as Santa, and Ann-Margaret and Alan Arkin in particular do well as his in-laws. But it is Martin Short who steals the film, in a wonderfully wacky portrayal of the villain Jack Frost, and I have to say the makeup on it was superbly done. And the soundtrack is cool, and the songs featured are sung with unusual gusto. Plus, the cameos from Mother Nature, Sandman and Father Time(the late Peter Boyle) are inspired. The film, and I am not sure whether this is good or bad, also is very suagry sweet. All in all, not bad, but my least favourite of the Santa Clause movies. 6/10 Bethany Cox