The Moose Hole - 'Escape' Now While You Can!
Written: Dec 27 '06
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: There's was something ... it will come to me eventually
Cons: Everything else, but especially Martin Short
The Bottom Line: The Santa Clause 3 – The Escape Clause is a slow-paced, poorly structured and totally unnecessary holiday sequel that should have been destined for the bottom of the direct-to-video bin
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| mickeymoose15's Full Review: The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause |
The story for The Santa Clause 3 – The Escape Clause is the worst in the trilogy which frankly is not all that surprising for yet another unnecessary Disney sequel. It is painful to watch Walt Disney Pictures gain notoriety and respect for producing successful film franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Chronicles of Narnia only to see them through it all away with sub par releases like this. The plot likely is irrelevant to young children who will sit through anything their parents bring them to at least once. However the enjoyment of the Tim Allen vehicle for older audiences is all but zapped completely from the franchise with this (hopefully) final installment. Focus on the Escape Clause itself does not come into play until at least the last thirty minutes of the picture and even then it plays out like a condensed and subservient version of It’s a Wonderful Life.
With David Krumholtz (Bernard, the Arch-Elf) absent from the cast the humor sadly is pretty much drained from the picture, at least as far as older audience members are concerned. Tim Allen is not nearly as funny as he once was (either in this film franchise or his entire comedic career) and Spencer Breslin’s role is limited, severely diminished from the last installment, so no one is properly able to fill the void left by Krumholtz.
Comedian Martin Short’s role as Jack Frost, the antagonist of the movie, is a mixed bag at best. He has some amusing bits every so often but as a whole his character isn’t all that menacing or whimsical. Short himself, like fellow Saturday Night Live! alumnus Will Ferrell, is better suited for live television comedy sketches then feature-length films as he is only tolerable for short spans of time.
The Council of Legendary Figures – consisting of Mother Nature (Aisha Tyler), the Tooth Fairy (Art LaFleur), Cupid (Kevin Pollack), the Easter Bunny (Jay Thomas), Father Time, and the Sandman – all of whom were introduced in the last installment are back. Sadly with the sole exception of the Sandman none of them are used to their full potential. It was nice however to see the late-actor Peter Boyle, best remembered for his roles in Young Frankenstein and the television series Everybody Loves Raymond, in his final feature-film appearance.
Overall, The Santa Clause 3 – The Escape Clause is a slow-paced, poorly structured and totally unnecessary holiday sequel that should have been destined for the bottom of the direct-to-video bin at the local Wal-Mart rather then cluttering up movie theaters across the country. The 1994 original, and to a lesser extent the second installment in the series, conveyed a serious family-oriented message which hit particularly close to home, an achievement few holiday films are able to accomplish without being overtly cheesy or lame. The problem with the Escape Clause, besides its repulsive script, is that even though it too tries to express a specific message it is drenched exorbitantly in sugar-coated sweetness bound to make anyone over the tender age of five years old sick to their stomachs. Come on! Melting Jack Frost’s cold heart with a ‘magical’ hug? Ack! What’s worse is that it comes off as being way too forced. Was this truly necessary? No, but Disney wants to squeeze every last dollar out of this while the going is good. It is therefore particularly ironic to see this film condemn the materialistic vision of what the North Pole would have been like if Jack Frost, not Scott Calvin, donned the red-suit and hat. For the Walt Disney Company’s theme park division it must be like looking itself in the mirror in the aftermath of the tight-wad Eisner-era ala California Mis-Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Paris, though to be honest Frost in the movie probably gave his guests more bang for their buck. Clearly Hollywood has not learned from such certifiable pieces of garbage like Jurassic Park III, The Whole Ten Yards, Dumber and Dumberer, The Son of the Mask, and Be Cool as they continue to pump unwarranted sequels which only seek to further diminish the quality and innovativeness of the original classics. Screw the Blockbuster rental recommendation! Wait for this living-breathing disaster area to be replayed at nausium on the Disney Channel within a year right alongside High School: The Musical and the umpteenth sequel to the talent-less Cheetah Girls.
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Feel-good Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Script
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Epinions.com ID:
mickeymoose15
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Location: Milwaukee, WI
Reviews written: 226
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
The Moose likes movies and likes reviewing them. Nuff said.
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