The Santa Clause Trilogy Movie Review

The Santa Clause



Director: John Pasquin

Writer(s): Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick

Starring: Tim Allen, Wendy Crewson



In keeping with this holiday season I am going to review the entire three part series of Disney's "The Santa Clause". I am going to break it down by movie so that it gives a fair opportunity to properly review the films for their individuality as opposed to a whole. The first movie in the series which stars Tim Allen (Wild Hogs, Galaxy Quest) as Scott Calvin, a man who accidentally kills Santa Claus. Scott Calvin as a result of what happens is now purposed with a contract that claims he has to take the place of Santa Claus.

The movie which hit theaters in 1994 was quite well done for the time it arrived. On top of that modern day Christmas movies had started to become very routine and boring. Little to my own and many others surprise we were given an answer to what a studio could do when it gave a honest try and making a new Christmas classic. That combined with some relatively positive performances from the cast had left Disney with successful and very heart warming holiday movie.

In a bit of a bigger surprise was television star turned big screen actor Tim Allen was able to perform quite well in this particular role. Not withstanding the role was perfectly fit to Allen's particular blend of comedy and was enough to give off the perfect charm.

"The Santa Clause" is a perfect holiday movie full of laughs, charm, and enough holiday spirit for you and your family to enjoy.

My Rating: 80%



The Santa Clause 2



Director: Michael Lembeck

Writer(s): Don Rhymer & Cinco Paul

Starring: Time Allen, David Krumholtz



Eight years later and Disney decide that it is time for a round 2 with the Santa. Time Allen returns to reprise his role as Santa Claus. This time around we have a different director and a different writing team at the helm. The question is that after a eight year wait could the world be charmed again by an overweight Tim Allen. The question was answered when the movie did quite well at the box office during the 2002 holiday season and also saw some critics give it a positive review.

I however was not quite as drawn in to this particular movie so much as I was the first one. I did however appreciate the idea behind this movie as it was a slight bit different and did still manage some laughs in the process as well. I still am not sure whether or not though that this movie was a necessary movie to make. While on the one hand many people did enjoy it at the time, I do feel that it has already fallen victim to being forgotten about when it comes to longevity in the holiday movie list.

Disney who do not always hit the mark so much with their follow up movies were only slightly shy of getting something going with this follow up. However the movie falls victim to just not having enough to get the job done. With that being said I do not want to tell you not to watch this movie as you may find more charm in it then I did.

My Rating: 50%



The Santa Clause 3: The Escape




Director: Michael Lembeck

writer(s): Ed Decter & John J. Strauss

Starring: Tim Allen, Martin Short



Well the third time would not be a charm for Disney's Santa Clause series. In fact this movie set the series so far back that there never will be a ressurection for it at all. This time around Disney has included Martin Short (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Mars Attacks!) as Jack Frost.

Jack Frost who is jealous of the attention that Santa gets wants to become the new Santa and change the name of Christmas to Frostmas. Unfortunately what appears to sounds like an alright movie premise on the surface turns out to be one of the most horrible holiday season movies to have ever been put on the big screen. This movie would not have even been a good direct to DVD release as it just has no laughs, no charm, and nothing worth while in it at all.

The Santa Clause series comes to a crash landing with this installment and the addition of Martin Short managed to play a key factor in the complete failure of this movie. Martin Short is not funny at all in this movie or in almost everything he does for that matter. Martin Short is a perfect example of what is wrong in the world of comedy today.

I would rather be eating 30 day old Christmas Pudding then ever having to endure watching this painstaking movie ever again. Save yourself the trouble and stay far away from this movie as it will only leave you wishing you had ninety minutes of your life back.

My Rating: 0%