Big adventure and bigger visuals makes Arthur Christmas an animated festive tale filled with spirit and style.
The film opens with a young girl asking the question which all little tykes ponder: How does Santa Clause do it? 1 night, 192 countries, and millions of children anticipating a sack full of presents under their tree. So how does the jolly fat man pull it off?
If you answered “magic” then you are half right. While past Santa Clause were big on the reindeer-sleigh -Christmas magic way of going about things, the Santa Clause of present (Jim Broadbent) has traded up for some swanky new tech gadgetry and an elf workforce akin to a military unit.
The real brains behind the red suit is Santa’s oldest son Steve (Hugh Laurie), next in line to take the Santa mantle who treats Christmas as a mission determined by stats and technology. Yet the Christmas spirit belongs to Santa’s other son Arthur (James McAvoy) goofy, scrawny, with daggy Christmas sweater and daggier Christmas slippers.
When the same young girl who opens the film is left without a present Arthur defies protocol, blows the cobwebs off the old sleigh and with hilariously un-PC Grandpa Clause (Bill Nighy) and an over zealous Elf (Ashley Jensen) by his side, whisks off to the other side of the world to deliver Christmas cheer.
What follows is a nice blend of adventure, eccentric comedy and visual extravagance. Director Sarah Smith (her film debut) finds the right balance between story and spectacle, so that not only are we left awe struck by the epic animated set design and whiz-bang action sequences (just as good in 2D), but we also fall for these characters superbly voiced by McAvoy (energetic geek), Laurie (smug know it all), Broadbent (stubborn) and Nightly (superbly nutty).
Arthur Christmas does something few Christmas family movies have done over the last several years: it makes them fun again. Watching Santa’s sleigh slicing through the night sky is not only a hoot to watch, but it also evokes something within. Kids will love it and adults will feel like kids while watching it. |