Arthur Christmas

Every year, the movie studios seem to push out more and more children’s movies. And each year, it seems that the quality of the films gets worse and worse. This year has its fair share of underperforming films in the family genre. I am looking at you Mars Needs Moms. Even Puss N’ Boots was unable to capitalize on its Shrek predecessors. It can hardly be considered a bust, but it will not break $200 million like all four prior films. Happy Feet Two recently tanked. Cars 2 came out of the gates flat, and never picked up speed. This week, two new films take aim at this coveted audience. The Muppets and Arthur Christmas will go head-to-head. With the holidays approaching, both films stand a chance to succeed. Then again, they both could cancel each other out.

Arthur Christmas comes from the makers of Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit. Like most animated films of today, they have stacked the voice cast. James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Stanton, Hugh Laurie and Bill Nighy lead the cast as the voices of the Claus family. Arthur (McAvoy) is the younger brother of Steve (Laurie) who is next in line to be the Santa, taking over for their father (Broadbent). The film opens with Arthur answering letters to Santa. He explains to the children that Santa is real, and they should believe, and tell all their non-believing friends.

It is then Christmas Eve, and Santa and his legion of elves are out delivering presents, James Bond style. This series of events moves well, is funny and entertaining, and utilizes 3D well. While Santa and his team are on the ground, Steve monitors their progress from the S-1. The S-1 is a high-tech aircraft that can bypass all armed forces radars and fly at breakneck speeds to cover all the houses in all the countries.

At the end of the night of the night, they realize one child is missed. This sends Arthur and Grandsanta (Nighy) on a mission to deliver the last present by sunrise. There is a lot of sentiment and heart in this adventure. They use the Eve old wooden sleigh, the descendants of the original reindeer, and a map of the world that is way out-of-date. This captures the attention of the elves, Steve, Santa and Mrs. Claus (Stanton). In the end, it becomes a family effort.

As I said above, this movie has a lot of heart. It is a very endearing film. I am not usually one to like holiday movies made after Home Alone, with Bad Santa being the only exception. Yet, somehow, Arthur Christmas did not make me gag like The Santa Clause movies or Fred Claus. I would actually recommend seeing this film. It is cute, and little kids will like it. There is enough high-brow humor in it to keep the adults happy. I had the pleasure of seeing Arthur Christmas in 3D, and am happy to report that it was worth it. Beware, there is an attached music video at the beginning. It is Justin Beiber’s cover of Santa Clause is coming to town.

RATING: 8/10