Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Directors: Sarah Smith, Barry Cook. Cast: James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim BroadbentImelda Staunton.

This is a classic at my place… and every Christmas my son makes us go through it, so it’s now part of the package, together with the Christmas turkey, jingle bells and all the rest. I must have seen this 3 or 4 times and yet I can never quite remember it… not quite sure whether that says more about my mushy brain or the this being a rather unmemorable one.

To be honest there’s a lot worse to watch around this season, and while certainly it is not an Aarman classic (nor a Christmas classic either to be honest), it does manage to strike a nice balance between “Christmas tradition”, spirited fun and irreverence. It subserves the Santa’s “status Quo” adding modern twists to the Christmas legends, without spoiling the innocence of the magic and ruining anyone’s childhood. There are some inspired moments too, especially towards the beginning, with the acrobat-elves parachuting down to deliver presents with the help of some modern high-tech gadgets, Santa’s headquarter, looking more like a military base in North Pole or the suggestion that it was Santa’s flying sleigh that caused the Cuban missile crisis (one to be picked up only by the grown ups really, but still fun).

The Arthur of the title is very a likeable and sympathetic character (voices by James McAvoy) which makes it easier to root for him. The story does run out of steam somewhere in the last third (it is a film without a real baddie after all) but then it quickly recoup it all with the heart-warming finale: it’s Christmas after all.