I have to admit, The Santa Clause was a charming little Christmas movie. It's follow-up The Mrs. Clause was an abomination. So going into The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, I wasn't expecting much. And yet still I was disappointed.

Written by: Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, Leo Benvenuti
Directed by: Michael Lembeck
Starring: Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Eric Lloyd
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Genre: Christmas, Family, Comedy
Running Time: 98 min
Rating: G for General Audiences.
/Film Rating: 4 out of 10

This time around, production line problems might cause a whole continent to go toyless, and Santa is so busy trying to prepare for Christmas, that he can't attend to his pregnant wife, Mrs. Clause. So he transports his in-laws in to keep her company. But the North Pole must be retrofit to appear as Canada, forcing the elves to act Canadian (which involves saying AH and wearing hockey shirts) to protect the SOS (Secret of Santa). And to make matters worse, the evil jealous Jack Frost has found a way to banish Santa from the North Pole and take over Christmas.

The big story problem is that the plan doesn't begin to heat up until well into film. And once the action begins, it is resolved without much effort. A sequence late into the film has a lot of underlying commentary about the growing commercialism of Christmas. But a North Pole theme park/resort already exists, I've been there. The fact that this film was made by Disney, the king of over commercialization, exploitation and greed, invalidates any message contained within this sequence.

Most of the film is lifeless. Sure it does he the creative prop gags that we've come to expect. Tim Allen hasn't made a good movie since Galaxy Quest and the last time Martin Short was funny was...? Elizabeth Mitchell has now taken on a life of her own since starring on the hit television show LOST. My perception of her seemed skewed, and I actually found it hard to believe her as goodie goodie Mrs. Claus.

The kids around me seemed to enjoy the film adequately. I was able to sit through the entire thing, and only once felt physically because of it.

/Film Rating: 4 out of 10

Kiddie Rating: 6 out of 10