“Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” has Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell reprising roles as Scott Calvin (AKA Santa Claus) and Carol Claus.

Mrs. Claus is pregnant and longing for her family, but because of the S.O.S. (Secret of Santa), Carol’s parents are unaware of Calvin’s true identity, believing he is a toy maker in who resides in Canada.

Despite increasing pressure at work, Mr. Claus wants to please the wife and invites his in-laws to the North Pole, which has been disguised to look like a quaint little Canadian town. Tagging along are Calvin’s ex-wife Laura, her husband Neil and daughter Lucy.

Unfortunately for the stressed Santa, things go from bad to worse when Jack Frost (Martin Short) causes trouble, hoping to claim Christmas as his own. If Calvin agrees to the Escape Clause, Frost’s dreams of stealing the holiday would be within reach.

There are so many things missing from this movie, and sadly, humor is one of them. Thinking back 12 years to the original film, this latest installment of the series is a sincere disappointment.

The plot is rather thin, spends a great deal more time on the sort-of-trouble-in-paradise status of Mr. and Mrs. Claus and the decidedly creepy machinations of Jack Frost than the actual Escape Clause. The buildup is roughly an hour, but has very little payoff. The problems are wrapped up too quickly and easily to be even remotely believable.

The dialogue is bland and trite, enough to induce eye rolling and blank stares. Gone is the sarcasm and comic relief that made the original not only a holiday classic, but also genuinely funny.

If the desire to find the spirit of the season is striking early this year, keep this thought in mind: the delighted twittering of children and adamant shushing from parents that usually accompanies a family film were curiously absent during “The Santa Clause 3.”

Children are very perceptive.