The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

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.

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.

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.

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

Yes, I am am adult and yes, I was probably more excited to see this third movie than my 3 children. I really loved the first two movies. This third is a must see in the "set", but I have to say, it's not my favorite. It's very hard to compete with the excellent first 2 movies. I didn't like that Charlie isn't played often enough. I also did care for the actors that starred as Mrs. Clause's parents. Yes, Ann-Margaret and Alan Arkin are terrific actors, but not perfect for this role as the in-laws, I thought. Martin Short was excellent! He is so evil and he does it well! Lucy is a doll! She stole the movie. I loved this movie... it's a great end to the other two, but I don't think they should make any more. Curtis's role as an elf was better when he was a kid! Yes, Bernard's appearance was highly missed. If you loved the first two, see this 3rd, otherwise wait until October of next year to rent it.