Arthur Christmas is a great holiday film for the new and old generations. It’s a movie that kids can watch with their parents and grandparents and everybody will laugh and enjoy it. It has something for everyone while still staying true to its values and cute storyline. I doubt it will become a holiday tradition or must-see Christmas flick, but its a fun one to watch with the family over the holiday breaks.
The movie begins on Christmas Eve with the current Santa out on his 70th mission to deliver toys to all the children of the world. But this isn’t your old sleigh and reindeer routine, no, Santa has his own spaceship and army of ninja-like stealth elves to assist in the billions of deliveries. “Inverting milk and cookies to bio fuel.” Santa’s two kids, Steve (voiced by Hugh Laurie) and Arthur (James McAvoy) are back home at the North Pole helping out in their own special ways. Kids are going to love the super-fast, super-awesome elves as they dash through streets and find their way into houses to deliver gifts. It’s really fun, exciting, and a great way to start off the film.
Santa in his spaceship
Arthur Christmas isn’t just about the flash, though. It has a lot of heart and magic as it switches to the more traditional sense of Santa via the senile Grandsanta of yesteryear (Bill Nighy). The main storyline is that one gift was missed which means one child was missed and Arthur must deliver it before Christmas morning. Steve says it’s impossible and assures their dad, Santa (Jim Broadbent), that they did their best delivery yet. Arthur and Grandsanta aren’t satisfied so they round up the reindeer and magic to make one last stop. This is where the film uses the 3D the best and really makes the experience Christmas-y. There are huge themes of “out with the old, in with the new” and in my opinion, old definitely won.
Arthur Christmas and Grandsanta
Even though Grandsanta made sexist jokes, this movie has a bunch of girl power. Mrs. Santa (Imelda Staunton) is always on top of things and you can tell she’s the brains behind the bumbling mumbling Santa. There’s also Bryony (Ashley Jensen) who is a hardcore gift-wrapping elf that assists Arthur Christmas and Grandsanta on their mission to deliver the last present to a little girl. There’s a lot of family themes, sharing themes and other great lessons for kids to get from this picture. It’s well animated and paced decently (there was a part in the middle that might lose some of the audience but it’s a great time to take a bathroom break!). I thoroughly enjoyed Arthur Christmas and think it will be well received by just about anyone.
Arthur Christmas in the Letters Department
The movie is genuinely funny and is packed with laughs. This was a joint project between Britain and America so a lot of the jokes are skewed towards the Brits. I really appreciate that they set the movie outside of America as it gives a much needed geography lesson to audience members who forget there’s a whole big world out there. There’s a good balance of action and witty humour for kids and adults all mixed with holiday cheer and Christmas magic. “Is it true children are not real and just anti-mater?” It’s almost surprising that it works, but it just does.
Tags: Arthur Christmas, Ashley Jensen, Bill Nighy, Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton, James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
