‘THE SANTA CLAUSE 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Tim Allen’s Santa Claus meets Martin Short’s Jack Frost
And here we are on the third and final ‘Santa Clause’ movie of the trilogy. This is considered to be the worst of the three films featured in the trilogy, and it’s easy to see why, since it isn’t that great. 😦
I have a soft spot for ‘The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause’, but I think there are ways this could have been better. There are a number of good story ideas that could have been utilised to their best.
This is especially when the film has a ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’/‘Back to the Future, Part II’ scenario. Sadly, the ideas aren’t well-executed enough and are spared for more cheap humour to be filled in.
The film has Tim Allen as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus facing his greatest challenge yet. He invites the in-laws, his wife Carol’s parents, to the North Pole. The North Pole ends up getting disguised as Canada.
As well as that, he has to stop Jack Frost from causing trouble when he tries to take over Christmas and be Santa Claus. This involves a journey back through time where Scott Calvin’s history is altered.
Now here’s the thing. The two story ideas of Scott meeting Carol’s parents and him going through an altered reality where he was never Santa are great. But as I said, the execution of those ideas isn’t! 😦
The film does feel rather clumsily put together in terms of how it tells its story. For example, Scott has to keep it a secret from Carol’s parents that he’s Santa Claus, but surely should he need to here?
Wouldn’t it have been better if Scott told Carol’s parents that he is Santa early on before he went through the time-travel journey and the parents had to decide whether they approve of this or not?
It’s also bizarre that Scott/Santa never allows Carol to go back home to see her parents. Wouldn’t it have saved a lot of suspicion for the distance between Carol and her parents not to be so distant? 😐
The altered reality aspect isn’t given enough time to be developed either. I would’ve liked to have seen more of the altered reality, since the film’s focus is on Scott being with Carol and her parents. 😦
Tim Allen continues to deliver a good performance as Scott/Santa throughout the film. It’s also nice to see him paired up against Martin Short’s Jack Frost, who I found enjoyable to watch throughout. 🙂
I’ve seen Martin Short in the film ‘A Simple Wish’ with Mara Wilson. It was interesting to see him in another film compared to that and how he played a villainous Jack Frost against Tim Allen’s Santa. 🙂
By the way, the continuity errors of going back in the past to the events of the first ‘Santa Clause’ movie are pretty evident. This is especially when Scott dons the Santa Claus outfit for that first time.
The film also has the return of Elizabeth Mitchell as Mrs. Claus/Carol Calvin, Judge Reinhold as Dr. Neal Miller (not Neil as credited in the second and third films) and Wendy Crewson as Laura Miller. 🙂
There’s also Liliana Mumy back as Lucy, Neal and Laura’s daughter. Although still sweet, she happens to have the most magical warm hugs you can give to people. I wish my hugs were warm and magical. 😀
Eric Lloyd is back as Charlie, Scott’s son, but in a minor role. I’m disappointed Charlie wasn’t in the film much, as he was a prominent character in the first two films. How come he wasn’t in this much?
There’s also Alan Arkin as Bud Newman and Ann-Margret as Sylvia Newman, Carol’s parents. I’ve seen Alan Arkin in ‘Edward Scissorhands’ and 2019’s ‘Dumbo’. Both he and Ann-Margret are good. 🙂
Spencer Breslin is back to play Curtis the Head Elf, who took over from Bernard in the previous two films. Nothing is mentioned to explain Bernard’s absence, and one could assume Bernard sadly died. 😐
The film also features Aisha Tyler’s Mother Nature, the late Peter Boyle’s Father Time, Michael Dorn’s Sandman, Jay Thomas’ Easter Bunny, Kevin Pollak’s Cupid and Art LaFleur’s Tooth Fairy here.
I enjoyed the scenes Michael Dorn’s Sandman had with Scott/Santa at Carol’s parent’s home. Apparently, Abigail Breslin (Spencer Breslin’s sister) plays Trish, one of the young elves in the film. 😀
‘The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause’ is not a great movie, but it’s entertaining enough. It’s a shame it ends the trilogy on a bad note, as the ideas featured could have been used to full potential.
The DVD special features are as follows. There’s a gag reel containing bloopers from the cast. There’s a ‘Backstage Disney’ section featuring an alternate opening to the film, ‘Jack Frost and Mrs. Claus: A Very Different Look’, ‘The New Comedians: On the Set with Tim and Marty’, ‘Creating Movie Magic’ and an audio commentary with director Michael Lembeck. And there’s a ‘Music & More’ section featuring a ‘Christmas Carol-oke’ with songs like ‘Jingle Bells’, ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’, ‘Joy to the World’, ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, ‘Silent Night’, ‘Deck the Halls’ and ‘The First Noel’, as well as the ‘Greatest Time of Year’ music video with Aly & AJ. There’s also a Disney FastPlay option to enjoy with the film.
‘The Santa Clause’ trilogy of films with Tim Allen has been enjoyable to watch at Christmas time over the years. The first two films are the best, whilst the third film suffers in terms of execution of story and characters. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the films whether it’d be on DVD, Blu-ray, digital or Disney+. 🙂
I don’t take the Santa Claus aspect of Christmas seriously nowadays compared to how I take the Nativity seriously, but watching ‘The Santa Clause’ films does get me in a festive mood. Tim Allen steals the show as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus in the trilogy, as he’s clearly enjoying himself in the films.
‘The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause’ rating – 7/10
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