The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

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.

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

Took the kids to see this and they loved it. I didn't have high expectations but was entertained and got the predictable feel good, happy ending. I agree with others that it was a couple notches better than the second movie. All and all, a good way to kick off the holiday movie season.

Other notes of interest: The actress playing Mrs. Clause is on the T.V. show Lost now. That took a little getting used to. Martin Short did a nice job as Jack Frost. The blooper reel at the end of the movie is pretty lame. Not funny at all. Plus, when the bloopers are literally shown 3 seconds after the end of the movie, it takes away from the movie itself. The kids are still smiling and in a magical place then "poof", magic is over here are the actors messing up their lines. It's like seeing Peter Pan on stage and right after the show, they show you all the wires that were used to make him fly. Save the bloopers for the DVD.

Went to see this movie today with the family. Personally, I was alittle disappointed in some aspects. There just didn't seem to be a lot of comedy or comic relief in this movie as with the other two. The absence of David Krumholtz was unmoving, for he provided a lot of stability to the plot lines in the other movies.

I did however, enjoyed Martin Short as Jack Frost. He was great! Everyone else returning was a pleasure. It seemed their screen time was increased over SC2, with the exception of Charlie. He just seemed to be there this time around. Lilian Mumy shined in this movie, one of many I hope. And of course Tim Allen....he is superb as Santa Clause.

Overall, the movie was so, so. I thought a lot of the context and situations in the movie were alittle over the heads of children my age. (ages 7 and 5 respectfully) And to me, the original movie was based for all ages. The third installment had to many "grown-up problems" that could loose the interest of a child real quick. But for the most part all the elves, toys and of course Santa made seeing it will the kids worthwhile! Although, it is not up to par with the original, it does do a great job of completing a trilogy that will warm the hearts of families for many holidays to come.