Martin Short’s Jack Frost (Almost) Makes The Santa Clause 3 Worth Watching

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is the nadir of the series, though Martin Short’s spirited turn as Jack Frost almost saves it. The original The Santa Clause has become something of a Christmas favorite and starred Tim Allen (Toy Story 4). The story follows Allen’s businessman Scott Calvin, who accidentally kills Santa and is forced to don the suit and deliver the rest of his toys. The movie was a warm and surprisingly witty family comedy, though Allen would later reveal the original script called for Scott to shoot Santa dead, believing him to be a home invader.

Tim Allen would don the suit again for 2002’s The Santa Clause 2, where Santa needs to find his Mrs. Clause. While the sequel was a success, it received a more mixed reception than the original. The final installment to date is The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. This entry sees Allen’s Santa going up against Jack Frost, and while it earned considerably less than the previous two movies, it was still a solid success. There’s been no talk of The Santa Clause 4 in the years since, meaning the franchise is probably done.

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The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause was never destined to be a great piece of cinema, but even by those standards it’s a lazy sequel. The freshness found in the original is long gone and most of the gags are pretty lame. That said, the bright light of the movie is Martin Short (The Addams Family) as Jack Frost, who is jealous he doesn’t have a holiday of his own. He conspires to get Scott to undo his time as Santa, which involves traveling back in time to the night he killed his predecessor. Frost goes back with him and dons the suit first, becoming the new Santa Claus and renaming Christmas “Frostmas.”

Martin Short is giving maximum ham as The Santa Clause 3’s Jack Frost and does his best to make the flat material work. Utilizing the same scene-stealing energy he brought to Father Of The Bride or Inherent Vice, Short gives his screentime a sense of fun and zip lacking in the rest of the sequel. He’s so good he almost makes viewers root for Frost over Scott, though naturally, he has to lose in the end though he’s redeemed for his actions.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause feels like it was made purely because it was guaranteed to pull in a certain amount of profit. Being the pro that he is, Martin Short still gives this forgottable Santa Clause sequel his all, and if that’s a reason to sit through it, it’s because of him.

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