Finishing off ‘The Santa Clause’ trilogy (unless you count the recent Disney+ multi part TV series…which I personally dont) we have, arguably, the best ‘Santa Clause’ film in the whole series…Theres two main reasons for that…One is that theres no bizarre Body horror and minimal mysonginy on display…and the other is Martin Short.

‘The Santa Clause 3’ is a flashback movie…we open with Mrs. Clause (See: Santa Clause 2) teaching a classroom of elves, where she recounts a WILD and KERRRAZY adventure her and the big red feller went through a year or two ago. We then flash back a year or so and its revealed that Mrs. Clause is pregnant, the workshop is behind on deliveries and Santas got his attention split in half a dozen different places.

Chief among them is Mrs. Clause is getting a bit homesick. Not so much for the US, but more for the relatability of actual full sized humans, and not elves or Scotts extended family whenever they can be arsed to show up. So, to try and comfort his wife, Santa decides the best possible thing to do is to bring her parents up to the North Pole to spend time with her and hopefully support her during the final weeks of her pregnancy.

However, they’re WAY too behind schedule to go down to the states and kidnap a couple of ‘in-laws’…Enter Martin Short as ‘Jack Frost’ a ‘legendary figure’ who aspires to be as well known as famous as Santa and his peers…But doesnt really want to put the effort in. When Santa expresses his need to find some way to get some time to travel away from the workshop, Jack JUMPS at the chance, seeing it as a way to either try and muscle in on Santas racket and make a name for himself…or ideally, sabotage the red guys operations and capitalise on the chaos.

Pitching in as ‘a caring person who just wants to help’ Jack positions himself as someone who could briefly handle the show while Santa supports his family. Santas reluctant, but is assured a very close eye will be kept on Jack…and with that in mind, he agrees.

But Jacks got bigger plans. He wants the top dogs job, and when he learns of a top secret ‘additional’ clause called ‘The Escape Clause’ which allows a Santa to transfer his powers to someone else and undo all the work they’ve done…Jack sees his best shot at making a name for himself.

And…honestly? This one is probably the best of the three in my opinion. Is it high concept and creative? No. Not particularly…its a lot fo low brow humour and lines that feel improvised, shoehorned into a film where the 3rd act randomly decides it wants to be ‘Its a wonderful life’…until it decides suddenly that it doesnt want to be that. But given just HOW strange the previous 2 entries were…to just get a kind of alright, non problematic, non scary entry in this series…to get one that actually HAS proper jokes, engaging characters and a premise thats kind of okay…is somehow just about enough to not make me outright dislike this thing.

The scripts relatively solid, its just over 90 minutes long, JUST begins to overstay its welcome in the final act and relies HEAVILY on the audience not asking too many questions about the logistics and continuity of the series…But beyond that…its actually not half bad. the pacing is decent, they finally nail a tone that feels consistent and (mostly) entertaining. the act structuring is a little wonky, with a top heavy first act, a kind of middling 2nd act and 3rd act that suffers from a bit of an identity crisis…But it pulls it all together by the end.

the humour is a little scattershot, with it being a family film im guessing they’re just doing all the comedy styles to try and appeal to all age groups…but in doing that it is still quite hit and miss…But i’d say of the 3 ‘Santa Clause’ movies…this one is definitely more hit than miss. The characters all seem to be a bit softer and comedically driven here, and the introduction of Shorts ‘Jack Frost’ really helps smooth over all the cracks that the previous entries had suffered from.

The direction feels a little more up market than the last entry, but is still kind of in the realms of ‘direct to video/TV movie’…I think the main reason this one DOES feel a bit more polished than the previous entry is, it is a little bit safer as a production…they dont use nearly as much CG as the last 2 films, and if they do its as overlays (like Jacks frosty breath) rather than whole generated CG sequences. they also dont suffer from as many ropey practical effects which helps…but the vast majority of the film is set either on the workshop sets, or in houses…which are pretty easy to set dress for, and I believe for this film they just reused the set built for ‘Santa Clause 2’ which no doubt saved some cash.

I feel like non of the ‘Santa Clause’ movies really capture the vibe and feeling of christmas, and non of them give me the ‘warm fuzzies’. This one does try…But just, doesnt really do a lot for me in that regard. I think the original is probably the one that came closest…and even then it struggled.

Its competent direction, I cant fault it there…it just isnt a tailored experience and left me kind of wishing the warmth and heart was there.

Direction of the cast is also a little flat…everyone by this point (barring Short, and people in scenes with Short) are phoning it in. it’s clear its a ‘done’ production with very little animation from most involved and it feels like they basically followed the directors instructions TO THE LETTER…and not a feeling more than that…which…is a problem.

Same goes for the cine…its best summed up as ‘they did what needed to be done to make it studio appropriate, and not a thought more’ this is competent(ish) I spotted a couple of continuity errors across the runtime, a lot of this is filmed fairly wide and there isnt nearly as many dolly/track shots or angled shots here…which again, just makes it feel very ‘TV’ in tone and vibe.

The edits a bit plodding, but does have its moments…I feel like with a bit more B-roll and one more pass through, this could have actually been pretty decent…like GOOD end of decent…as it stands its just passible and kind of middle of the road all things considered.

Performance wise. I get the feeling Martin Short wanted to do this, and that the paycheque was just a nice bonus for him. He CHEWS EVERY single scene he’s in, is absolutely watchable across the whole runtime and is frankly the main reason to watch this movie. a delightfully campy and engaging performance throughout. he screams panto villain at multiple points in this and is just an utter delight from start to finish.

Tim Allen as Santa here feels a little more subdued…I feel he struggles to keep up with Shorts rapid deliveries and largely feels like he’s just there to bench warm…which is NOT a good sign if your movie is called ‘The Santa Clause’. When he does have his moments, he’s solid…But for the most part he just seems to be here for a quick buck and a couple months of hanging around with his friends.

The rest of the cast are largely returning from the last entry (though notably, theres no Bernard in this entry. And they never explain what happened to him…given he was a key component of the last 2 films I have to assume he was atomized in a bizarre christmas pudding accident and the trauma still haunts the workshop to this day).

the extended cast are fine otherwise…But I just wish they got more to do….With Scotts extended family (and Judge Rhinehold) being predominantly relegated to just saying plot exposition and doing emotional reactions to whats happening on screen. Hell Scotts first kid in this has a 5 minute cameo across the whole runtime that amounts to him writing himself out of the film in the first 15 minutes, then an alternate reality version of himself storms out of a house, and then he’s back again at the end to spew a bit of expoistion…and then hes gone. and I find a film that has a CORE PLOTPOINT around how supporting and spending time with your family is critically important, that ALSO spends the vast majority of the runtime DESPERATELY trying to get rid of Scotts first kid because he’s old now HILARIOUS. Its wild to me the gaul of this film.

The soundtracks unmemorable. I dont even think there were any jukebox classics in this one. its fine enough but…blehhh…

‘The Santa Clause 3′ is a stable and consistant production, and thats really all i’ve wanted from this series since the first film. just…an entry in the series that takes these characters, DOESNT screw around with them in horrifying or objectifying ways and just…gives them an ACTUAL grounded story, to see how they deal with situations and play things out. This is absolutely an imperfect production. But I appreciate the fact it at least TRIES to give these characters CHARACTER and a reason to exist…rather than just sending them off on another ’90 minute timer movie’ to save christmas.

In that regard its probably my favourite entry in this series, and probably the only one i’d actively CHOOSE to watch again given the chance. its just a shame you need to have seen the first two movies at least once to properly appreciate this one.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-santa-clause-3-the-escape-clause/