Director: Sarah Smith
Cast: James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie, Ashley Jensen and Bill Nighy.
Running Time: 97 minutes.
Certificate: U
Synopsis: On Christmas night at the North Pole, Santa’s youngest son looks to use his father’s high-tech operation for an urgent mission.
One of the main drawbacks of being a film critic or reviewer, and believe me, there are not a lot of drawbacks at all, is that you have to watch a lot of movies out of their seasonal context. ARTHUR CHRISTMAS is a prime example of this, and I sat down to watch this film in mid-October; before Halloween, bonfire night, and all those other things that kind of get you in the mood for Christmas. I went into this movie very cold, with not even the slightest hint of festive cheer about me.
The film is brought to the screen by Aardman Animation, or to refer to them in a different way, the British Pixar. Their name has been made predominantly in the claymation side of the art, kicking off with that cute little brown piece of lovable plasticine Morph, who appeared on Tony Hart’s children’s art show in the eighties, and then his own series shortly afterwards. They are perhaps most famous for their many TV specials and subsequent movie featuring Wallace and Gromit, CHICKEN RUN, and their Creature Comfort spots, which continue to entertain to this very day. ARTHUR CHRISTMAS is their second foray into the world of CGI-animation following the rather luke-warm FLUSHED AWAY a couple of years back.
As with a lot of Christmas themed movies, the story is set around an unlikely hero, in this case Arthur (James McAvoy), son of current Santa (voiced by Jim Broadbent), who has to deliver a Christmas parcel to a young girl in deepest, darkest Cornwall before the sun comes up on Christmas morning. The task falls at his feet after super-duper, regimental in type, tech heavy older brother Steve fails to see the point in making the 6,000 mile plus trip just to deliver one present to one little girl. So, Arthur seeks the help of his grandfather, voiced wonderfully by a movie-stealing Bill Nighy, an old school Santa who has his own ways of doing things in a slightly more traditional way, with slightly older less-high-tech equipment.
I may have gone into this movie very un-festive, but by a third of the way in I was hooked, and my Christmas had indeed come early. Aardman and its creative team have crafted a wonderful film that in the true tradition of modern CGI-animated films will captivate both young and old audiences alike. The animation is top notch, and the characters are well developed and very well voiced by the likes of McAvoy, Broadbent, Nighy (particularly Nighy), EXTRAS star Ashley Jensen and Hugh Laurie as the pretentious older brother, and indeed Santa in waiting, Steve. It’s charming, engrossing, funny, hugely enjoyable and very watchable in every sense of the word. Even the 3D is pretty good, and I HATE 3D.
When I was a kid, and when Santa Claus was very real to me (still is really), I always wondered just how on Earth does one man deliver presents to children all over the world in just one night. This film answers that, and delivers the legend and wonder that is Father Christmas in aces. In coming years, this will be the film that slots into that growing list of flicks that are a must watch in the weeks leading up to the big day, just to get you in the mood. It worked for me, and I loved it. A film that is a must-see this holiday season.
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS is in cinemas from Friday 11th November 2011.
