The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

The first two films were holiday classics compared to The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, an irritating, shoddy looking sequel that is the stuff direct-to-video movies are made of. Featuring an unimaginative North Pole, lousy special effects and Martin Short totally blowing it as Jack Frost, this film has little to no redeeming qualities. It even makes the usually reliable Alan Arkin look clueless and bland. The film’s plot has to do with Frost looking to hijack Christmas from Santa (Tim Allen), who’s anxiously awaiting the birth of his next child while trying to prepare for the holidays. Compounding Santa’s troubles is his wife wanting to see her parents (Ann-Margret and Arkin), something that could threaten the S.O.S. (Secret of Santa). All of these plot threads pretty much made me want to smash my head on the seat in front of me rather than watch them. I would’ve done it, but there were little kids up there, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.