I think it is fair to say I am not massively sold on Christmas films. I could probably count the Christmas films I think are great on two hands. Maybe I haven’t seen enough or maybe I am just a cold-hearted Scrooge. Well, I think today may have been the day my cold-hearted melted. I had seen ‘Arthur Christmas’ (2011) on more than one occasion before today’s viewing, but there something about this time around that really hit me and I think I may have a new Christmas film to put on rotation each year. The film tells the story of the Clauses, the family of Santas who have delivered presents for centuries. The current Santa (Jim Broadbent) is getting old and is struggling to keep up with the new technologies that his son, Steve (Hugh Laurie), has implemented to make Christmas more productive and efficient. However, despite all the new tech, they miss one child and Santa’s younger son, Arthur (James McAvoy), sets off on a mission with his grandad (Bill Nighy), to deliver the present the old-fashioned way.
It probably shouldn’t be much of a surprise that this film is great. After all, Aardman are involved who almost never put a foot wrong. Mix that with a stellar cast and you are obviously on to a winner. That isn’t an exaggeration either, this cast is stacked. The lead roles are pretty much stuffed with British royalty, with Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, and James McAvoy making up the Clause family and all doing stellar jobs. Then there are some nay big names who are basically just cameo roles. Michael Palin, Eva Longoria, Joan Cusack, Robbie Coltrane, Andy Serkis, these are but a few of the names who you wouldn’t even know were in the film unless you looked at the cast. With that much talent knocking about it is no surprise that the vocal performances in the film are so strong. The performances are bettered by the animation which is also stellar throughout. Not only does it look great visually, with the film being hugely creative and full of great colours and designs, but the movement in the animation is where it really excels. Everything flows brilliantly and it means it allows the film to move at a great pace and pull off some really terrific action scenes. A great example of this is the opening scene which is a fantastic sequence which really sets the scene for the quality of film going forward.
The film is brilliantly made in a technical sense, but that is not the reason that I really enjoyed this film. Of course, it was a factor, as was the plethora of stellar performances. But it is the atmosphere that is present throughout the film. There is an undeniable charm that is oozing from almost every scene and I just found myself getting sucked into it. The narrative isn’t the most creative if you really boil it down. It is chock full of creativity around the narrative, but the narrative itself is basically a character who has a certain set of beliefs has those beliefs tested before doubling down and proving the beliefs correct. It is a solid premise, especially for what is predominantly a kid’s film, but the way the film handles it is often beautiful. From the dialogue to the direction, and of course the animation and performances, there was never a moment in the film where I thought the narrative was delivered in a ham-fisted way or that it was too far on the nose. There is a scene towards the end of the film that is the perfect example of this. It is a scene that manages to complete three sperate character arcs in a way that was clear without being subtle while being a truly heartwarming scene at the same time. There is another aspect of this scene that really adds to it, and it is an asset of the film that is also superb and that is the score by Harry Gregson-Williams. It is a beautiful score that adds so much to the atmosphere and magic that is felt throughout the entire film and it would be unfair to do a review of this film without mentioning it, that is how important I think it was to my enjoyment of the film.
I was not expecting to love this film as much as I did. And don’t get it wrong, I did love it. Which Is really weird because it isn’t the first time, I have seen the film. It isn’t even the second, it’s the third or fourth. So, what is it that made it really connect with me this time around? I honestly couldn’t tell you. But what I can say is that if you haven’t seen the film before do yourself a favour and get on it. I promise it will be worth your time.
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