The Santa Clause 3 Review
In The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Tim_Allen's surprisingly durable Christmas franchise loses some of its heart, but not much of its steam in another generally enjoyable outing. This time Allen's Kringle must overcome the ever-bombastic Martin_Short, who joins the series' stable of legendary figures as Jack Frost, the cold-hearted weasel who wants to bend Christmas to his own perverse design. The former Scott Calvin is also about to become a father again, and needs to figure out if his in-laws, whom his wife is dying to see, can be convinced they're visiting a Canadian toy factory rather than the North Pole. What's a Santa Claus to do? The Santa Clause 3 fails to jettison any characters from the previous films, and, by adding yet more, inevitably leaves everyone without enough to do. Also noticeable: the children who played elves in the previous films are quickly growing up, such as Spencer_Breslin, who's still good with the comic timing, but is no longer so elf-like as a teenager. Michael_Lembeck, returning from the second installment, again directs at a frenetic pace in an attempt to jam everything in, and once Jack Frost turns the North Pole into a crass theme park, everything can get a little grotesque in a Back to the Future 2 sort of way. (Short also has something to do with that.) But, all in all, The Santa Clause 3 keeps the groove going from the previous films, due in large part to Allen's affability as a leading man. The 50-million-dollar drop-off in U.S. box office is consistent with this being the worst Santa_Clause movie, but even as such, it's still better than your average Christmas fare. Derek Armstrong, Rovi
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