They say third times the charm, but with this film and Shrek the Third I’m beginning to doubt the wisdom of that statement. This film was expected to clean a certain named Borat’s clock, but it was he that drove a stake of holly through the fat guy’s heart.
Mrs. Clause (Elizabeth Mitchell), erm Claus, is heavy with she and Santa’s (Tim Allen) first child. Unfortunately, that blessed event is falling extremely close to Mr. Claus’ busiest time of the year, much to the chagrin of Curtis (Spencer Breslin), the head elf.
Not only is the North Pole preparing for the birth, but also Jack Frost (Martin Short) is trying to horn in on Santa’s territory. A meeting of the Council of Mythical Creatures (including Father Time (Peter Boyle), Mother Nature (Aisha Tyler), the Easter Bunny (Jay Thomas), Cupid (Kevin Pollock), the Sandman (Michael Dorn), and the Tooth Fairy (Art LaFleur)) wants to kick Jack out of their fold but he volunteers to help Santa out at the Pole and he’s on probation.
However, we (the audience) know that Jack has something wicked up his sleeve. He finds out that if the current Santa holds a magical snow globe and says he doesn’t want the job that the “escape clause” will be activated. Frost sees this as an opportunity to take over the role and commences to secretly sabotage the workings of the Pole.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Claus is getting homesick so Santa arranges to have her parents (Ann-Margaret and Alan Arkin) secretly escorted to the Pole and disguise the place as a Canadian province, eh. Dr. Neil Miller (Judge Reinhold), Laura Miller (Wendy Crewson), and their daughter Lucy (Liliana Mumy) also hitch along for the ride. However, Jack is up to no good and tricks Santa into activating the escape clause, which ends up with Frost as the new Santa. So now Santa must find a way to set things right.
Third times the charm? Well, not exactly. It seems to me that both the makers of Shrek the Third and this film seemed to be thinking along similar lines. Both films introduce babies to the mix and both films seem to pale in the shadows of their predecessors. Both also try and bit of stunt casting with Justin Timberlake in Shrek and Martin Short in this film.
Short tries to do his thing, but unfortunately the proceedings are so lifeless that they border on boring. It’s just that you’ve seen it all before or that the film is missing the heart of the other two (which is another thing it shares with Shrek the Third). However, Santa Clause 3 scores lower since it lacks any of the few laughs that the other film did manage to slip in. Short tries hard, but can’t muster anything that makes the film stand about the others.
Allen seems to be going through the motions and some of the cast seems downright bored (Alan Arkin for example). I can see why the film didn’t perform well at the box office. It doesn’t live up to expectations in the slightest and you would expect something magical to happen with the teaming of Allen and Short, but it only fizzles. That being said, the kids might enjoy it – it’s the adults that might be bored.
The Santa Clause 3 is presented in both fullscreen and “family friendly” anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) that is enhanced for 16x9 televisions (you’ll be asked to chose when you hit the play button).
Special features include a commentary by director Michael Lembeck (only available on the widescreen version). There’s also a 3-minute blooper reel. The Music and More section contains a 6 minute “Christmas Carol-oke” which you can sing along to carols (follow the bouncing ball) with scenes from all the Santa Clause movies. Next is the 3-minute music video “Greatest Time of the Year” by Aly and AJ.
The Backstage Disney section stats off with a 3-minute “Alternative Opening” that has flashbacks to the first film. The 4-minute “Jack Frost and Mrs. Claus: A Very Different Look” examines the original looks for the two characters (Frost looks like a elven Andy Warhol at first).
It has interviews with director Lembeck, producer Brian Reilly, Martin Short, costume designer Ingrid Ferrin, and Elizabeth Mitchell. The 3-minute “The New Comedians” is about Short and Allen’s hijinks on the set. It has interviews with Judge Reinhold, director of photography Robbie Greenberg, and Tim Allen.
The 4-minute “Creating Movie Magic” looks at the visual effects with executive producer (Furious FX) Scott Dougherty, executive visual effects supervisor David Lingenfelser, CG supervisor Mark Shoaf, and production designer Richard J. Holland.
Santa Clause 3 proves that third time isn’t the charm as this sequel is often lacking in laughs and downright boring since you’ll be able to see it all coming. However, if you’re a little tyke then that might not bother you much.
The Santa Clause 3 - The Escape Clause is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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