With 2006’s The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, we get the third chapter in what may become a never-ending franchise. In the first Clause, Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) fell into the job as Santa Claus. During the second flick, Scott had to take a wife (Elizabeth Mitchell) or lose the gig. Escape shows us that Mrs. Claus is heavily pregnant at the worst time, as she’s ready to pop right near Christmas.

For some support, Santa’s in-laws (Alan Arkin and Ann-Margret) come to the North Pole. This causes concerns since the in-laws don’t know Scott’s identity as Santa, a fact that means some tricky business to keep the secret. Scott’s ex-wife (Wendy Crewson), her husband Neil (Judge Reinhold) and their daughter Lucy (Liliana Mumy) also wrangle invitations, so the North Pole becomes awfully crowded with outsiders.

Along with these issues and the usual pressures of Christmas, Santa encounters another problem: Jack Frost (Martin Short). The self-promoting legendary figure wants his own holiday and gets into trouble. This leads him to probation at the North Pole, though he can’t keep himself from mischief. This gets worse when Jack learns of “The Escape Clause”, a method by which Santa can renounce his title. Jack focuses on this since he figures that if Scott abandons the post, he can take over as the new Santa. The movie follows all these various threads and complications.

As I mentioned at the start, the Santa Clause franchise looks like it might keep going forever – or as long as Tim Allen’s career sags and he needs a paycheck, which is probably the same as “forever”. Actually, the Clause series drags here as well, at least in terms of box office. While the first two flicks – 1994’s original and 2002’s Santa Clause 2 - took in around $140 million each, Escape sputtered to a relatively mediocre $84 million. That’s not a bad take, especially since I’m sure the flick will do well on home video, but it marks a pretty considerable financial decline.

Does Escape display a notable dive in terms of film quality as well? No, but that’s mostly because the first two weren’t very good. The first flick offered sporadic entertainment, while the second was mostly a dud. It’s not hard to live up to the standards set by such forgettable efforts.

Actually, I probably like Escape more than Clause 2 because of Martin Short. Escape actually fields a pretty good supporting cast of new-to-the-franchise performers, as we get legends like Ann-Margret and Alan Arkin along with the usually entertaining Short. The two older performers bring little to the effort – Arkin generally looks embarrassed to be there – but Short does his best to entertain us.

Indeed, Short may well be the only actor here who doesn’t simply go through the motions. Allen looked bored back in Clause 2, and he seems no more invigorated for the third chapter. From all the others, we get performances with “paycheck” written all over them – except perhaps for the relentless overacting from young Mumy. None of these actors do anything to elevate the material.

But darned if Short doesn’t almost make Escape entertaining. Sure, he brings out some of his usual moves – you’ll see elements of Ed Grimley and other characters throughout the film – but Short manages to turn a series of lame gags into… well, into something nearly enjoyable.

Nearly. But this is a horseshoes and hand grenades situation, and close isn’t enough to make Escape enjoyable. The film takes a pretty lame premise and fails to do much with it. Actually, storytelling isn’t this flick’s forte, as the tale tends to sputter and meander. We know that at some point Scott will take the George Bailey route to negate his Santa-hood. It takes a long time to get there and fails to make us feel Scott’s pain along the way – or to care about the various issues. It’s a poorly-told effort without much coherence.

Escape also suffers from a generally cheap feel. It sports some of the worst computer effects I’ve seen in quite some time – at least from a major studio effort. The crummy quality of the CG visuals becomes an embarrassment early in the film and never improves.

Really, there’s not much magic on display here at all. The first Santa Clause at least boasted an intriguing idea, but the two sequels have simply existed to capitalize on its success. Escape occasionally entertains due to the presence of Martin Short, but too much of the time it simply bores us.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The transfer seemed fine but not exceptional.

Most of my complaints related to sharpness. While most of the film came across as concise and accurate, some shots appeared a bit ill-defined. The softness wasn’t a serious problem, but it caused mild distractions at times. I noticed no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, and no edge enhancement materialized. Source flaws seemed absent here.

As with the first two Clause flicks, this one went with a rich, lush palette. The usual Christmas tones dominated and formed a warm sense of colors. Blacks appeared deep and dark, while shadows were clear and appropriately opaque. The softness issues left this one as a “B”, but it satisfied most of the time.

No surprises came from the LPCM Uncompressed 5.1 soundtrack of Escape, as it presented a pretty limited soundfield. The scenes of work at the North Pole created the most involving parts of the mix. They opened up the room to a decent degree, as the various mechanical elements emerged from all around the spectrum. The occasional action piece also contributed to the sense of atmosphere. We didn’t get a lot of these, though, so the track stayed rather subdued most of the time.

Audio quality seemed positive. Bass response was quite good, as the effects and music showed strong low-end. They also demonstrated clean, concise highs and showed solid reproduction throughout the film. Speech sounded natural and distinctive as well. Though the mix never really excelled, it worked fine.

How does the Blu-ray compare to the original DVD? Audio delivered more oomph and involvement, while the picture looked tighter and more accurate. Even with the light softness, the Blu-ray offered an obvious step up from the DVD.

The Blu-ray duplicates the DVD’s extras and adds some exclusives. We launch with an audio commentary from director Michael Lembeck, who provides a running, screen-specific discussion. Lembeck’s chat for Clause 2 was a disaster. He treated the characters as real. For instance, he wouldn’t discuss Spencer Breslin’s performance as Curtis; instead, he acted like “Curtis the Elf” played himself. This cutesy tone got old very quickly and made the commentary a waste of time.

To my pleasant surprise, Lembeck gives us an actual discussion of the film here. He chats about locations and set design, costumes and makeup, effects, camerawork and editing, cast and performances, and various logistical issues. Lembeck can too heavily emphasize the bigness of the production, as he seems more interested in telling us about the expansive elements more than anything else. Still, he provides some fun notes, and I like his willingness to point out different goofs. This is a pretty enjoyable track.

The requisite Blooper Reel runs two minutes, 58 seconds. We get minor amusement from a few fleet moments of Allen and Short as they riff together, but most of the reel provides the usual goofiness. Note that the movie’s end credits also include bloopers, and some of them repeat here.

Christmas Carol-Oke This lets you croon along with seven different Christmas classics. Clips from the various Clause movies accompany these pieces, though the tunes bear no real connection to the action on-screen. Someone might like this feature, but it does nothing for me.

We find a music video for “Greatest Time of Year” by Aly and AJ. This combines the usual mix of lip-synch performances and movie shots. Aly and AJ are reasonably attractive girls, but the song is the standard bland Disneyfied rock. It’s a dull tune and a forgettable video.

Next we move to an Alternate Opening. This three-minute and 34-second clip acts as a recap of the first movie’s events. Since I figure 99 percent of this flick’s viewers already saw the original movie, it seems like a waste of time, so it was a wise choice of the filmmakers to cut it.

Three featurettes follow. Jack Frost and Mrs. Claus: A Very Different Look goes for four minutes and two seconds as it includes movie clips, shots from the production, and interviews. We get comments from Lembeck, producer Brian Reilly, costume designer Ingrid Ferrin, and actors Martin Short and Elizabeth Mitchell. The show views at abandoned concepts for the Frost and Mrs. Claus characters’ looks. The highlights come from early shots that let us see how the roles could have been portrayed. We would’ve had a fat Mrs. Clause and a Frost who looks suspiciously like David Bowie circa 2004. Despite its brevity, this is a useful piece.

The New Comedians: On the Set with Tim and Marty fills two minutes, 59 seconds with Lembeck, Short, director of photography Robbie Greenberg, and actors Judge Reinhold and Tim Allen. We learn how Allen and Short worked together on the film. Some interesting shots from the set emerge, but mostly the piece just tells us how much fun the pair were when together.

Finally, Creating Movie Magic runs four minutes, three seconds. It includes remarks from Lembeck, Greenberg, Furious FX executive producer Scott Dougherty, Furious FX executive visual effects supervisor David Lingenfelser, Furious FX CG supervisor Mark Shoaf, and production designer Richard J. Holland. As expected, the show looks at the movie’s visual effects, with a particular focus on the snow globe room and the magical fireplace. I’d a like a longer look at these topics, but “Magic” satisfies for what it is.

All of the above extras also appeared on the original DVD, so now let’s hit the Blu-ray exclusives. Tour Elfsburg offers a piece of CG animation. It takes us around Elfsburg and lets us see some sights. It’s essentially the Blu-ray equivalent of a screen saver and not especially interesting.

Called a “Virtual Holiday Decorator”, Deck the Halls gives us more CG imagery. This allows you to decorate a tree, a stocking, and a wreath, and you can also create your own holiday playlist. This is a minor diversion but it could be fun for kids.

Under Movie Showcase, we’re told we’ll get “instant access to the filmmaker’s most cinematic moments that showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound”. What this means is that we find an alternate form of chapter search, as the “Showcase” links to three short clips; these run a total of three minutes, four seconds. The “Showcase” feels pointless to me.

The Blu-ray opens with ads for Ratatouille, Meet the Robinsons, and Disney Blu-ray. No trailer for Escape pops up here.

Slow, plodding and generally unfunny, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause presents a tired excuse for holiday entertainment. Martin Short creates sporadic amusement, but most of the time the film fails to engage or charm. The Blu-ray delivers pretty good picture and audio as well as a decent selection of supplements. While this becomes a satisfying Blu-ray, the movie itself remains essentially a dud.

Note that you can buy Santa Clause 3 on its own or as part of the “Santa Clause Complete 3-Movie Collection”. That one also includes 1994’s The Santa Clause and 2002’s The Santa Clause 2 and offers a discount for fans who want to get all three. While both the first and second films are new to Blu-ray, Escape literally just repackages the original 2007 disc; you’ll find no changes or updates here.

To rate this film visit the Special Edition review of THE SANTA CLAUSE 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE