It must be a christmas miracle, I have now watched three films in a row that I enjoyed! Yes, I can't believe it either, but it has happened. This was one that I was a little sceptical about, however. I had only heard good things and I had had it recommended by two separate people, but I was till a little hesitant. Mostly because it is a Netflix original and my experience with those has been hit and miss to say the least. But I was wrong to be dubious. 'Klaus' (2019) was a genuine delight. The story of the film is a take on how the idea of Santa and him delivering presents on christmas day came to be. The film follows Jesper (Jason Schwartzman), a privileged but lazy son of the head of the postal service. In order to teach Jesper some life lessons he sends him to be the post man on the secluded island of Smeerensburg, a town divided by a clan war. He is tasked with delivering 6000 letters in a year or his father will cut him off. Struggling to meet quota, Jesper starts to use the kind nature of a reclusive toymaker called Klaus (J.K. Simmons) to deliver toys to kids in exchange for their letters to Klaus. This has a profound effect on the town, with all the kids starting to behave in order to receive presents, which in turn causes the two clans to settle their differences, which angers the clan leaders. It is then up to Jesper and Klaus to continue to deliver presents to children while avoiding the wrath of the evil clan leaders.
I'll get some of the negatives out of the way before I start my praise. The negatives are pretty nitpicky, but they are negatives none the less. The first, and my most clear negative of the film, is the song choices the film makes for certain scenes. They aren't necessarily terrible fits for the scenes themselves, but they are bizzare for the general atmosphere of the film on the whole. The most obvious example is the use of 'How You Like Me Now' by The Heavy. When it started to play it really through me out of the film for a moment. The other negative I have is the plot is pretty predictable. Its the same story structure of a hundred other films and I knew the direction it was going pretty early on. But, the story on the whole is really creative and fun, as are all the characters and so you can look past the predictability of it all. The main reason you can look past it though is because the film is gorgeous. The animation style is beautiful and is enhanced by some fantastic colours, lighting and the movements and facial expressions of the characters. It all looks great and this film is worth the watch for the visual style alone.
The voice acting in the film is also top notch. I think the best praise I can give to the actors is that I had no idea who they were whilst I was watching the film. This allowed me to really buy into the characters as I wasn't constantly 'oh that's so and so'. Jason Schwartzman does a great job as Jesper, managing to hit all the emotional and comedic beats of the character while felshing him out and giving him true personality. J.K. Simmons is a lot more understated as Klaus, but again this is perfect for the character who is a much more introverted and gentle character than Jesper and Simmons performance matches this brilliantly. All the child actors do a good job as well. They are all used quite sparingly which I think is a bonus as it allows for them to focus more on getting their roles down. Will Sasso and Joan Cusack play the two heads of the clashing clans and both do well. Their performances are not as villainous as I would have liked, especially from Cusack whos character, Mrs. Krum, has a classic villain look. But the characters are written much more comedic and both actors manage these moments well.
'Klaus' was a beautiful little film which is perfect for the Christmas period. The story beats are ones you have seen a million times before, but the actual story is really charming and creative so it isn't a big problem. All the actors put in very good performances and, along with the animators, managed to create fully formed and fleshed out characters who you understand and relate to. And the film is just gorgeous. The animation is beautiful and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Every scene was brilliant to look at, so much so that the rest of the film could have been completely average and I still would have enjoyed myself. The film is a definite recommend for Christmas. Its perfect to put on when you've got the family round and you're all about to explode from the feast you've just gorged on.