Review: 'Christopher Robin'

While I wouldn't say Winnie the Pooh is having much of a re-emergence with today's young generation, we now have our second film about the Winnie the Pooh characters in as many years.

In 2017, we had the OK Goodbye Christopher Robin. That was Fox Searchlight's attempt, and now it's Disney's turn. However, whilst the former was about the birth of the books, the latter seems to be going down the same route as Steven Spielberg's Hook did and rediscover one's childhood.

The trailers looked alright. But none of them got me hugely excited and expecting something special. So, I went in with lukewarm expectations.

I ended up being caught rather off guard and had something I don't often have: a magical experience. It started off with some promise. There's a scene towards the start that is almost identical to the start and end of Gladiator which made me suggest where this could go in terms of its craft.

The way a lot of the characters are shot and created was really well done and fit in beautifully with the natural locations.

The longer the film went on, the more I warmed to it. I could feel a sweetness about it, and that just grew and grew.

No matter how surreal it got in the second half at times, I just went with it and embraced it rather than questioning the reasoning around certain situations. There are decisions made in this film that may break a few rules in some people's eyes with this type of story. Even though I recognised them, I went with them and it never changed my enjoyment of the story. In fact, it slightly enhanced them and just grew my investment for certain characters.

It's directed by Marc Forster, the same guy who did Finding Neverland. I love that film and it's in my all-time top 100. I could see similar themes from that as well as Hook, Toy Story 3, and even a bit of Ted.

By the end of it, I even came close to welling up, and I see many others going the full whack and bawl their eyes out.

The performances weren't award-worthy, but they all did their job well. Ewan McGregor has a solid track record with period pieces and can do family films well, and embracing the child of Christopher Robin was great to see. Plus, his chemistry with Winnie The Pooh was probably the strongest part of the performance aspect. The star of the show for me was voice actor Jim Cummings. This guy has done voices for many of your favourite Disney characters and his performance as Winnie The Pooh and Tigger in this was nothing short of great.

Like McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, and Mark Gatiss did solid jobs with their characters—especially Gatiss towards the end, who really embraced the tone for a lovely final act.

It's biggest strengths were the visual effects and the writing. The character designs were terrific and made them look like genuinely well worn soft toys. The decision for them to look like that was spot on.

The writing is hilarious, smart, witty and made great use of A. A. Milne's genius from the books. The execution of some of the nonsense dialogue being said by Winnie The Pooh and his friends reminded me of the animated version of Alice In Wonderland. On the face of it, it may sound silly, but it made sense as it fits the tone and it comes off as really sweet.

I also would like to mention the score. It harks back to the original Winnie The Pooh theme in its pieces, which I noticed a few times, which was a nice touch.

There are no major negatives to speak of. I would have liked more development between McGregor and Carmichael's characters. I think given this sub-plot more screen-time would give the audience more incentive to care for the Christopher Robin character.

There is a negative that I don't see as one. But I can see others having this problem with the film. As mentioned before, a decision is made in the second half that may put some people off. But I just think that if you try and look too much into the logistics of this film, you're completely missing the point.

This story is absolutely delightful, sweet, charming, uplifting, and quite funny for the most part. I was not expecting to enjoy it this much. Even though it has its sombre moments and it took a while to fully grab me, this was a very enjoyable watch.

In a nutshell, the story structure is something we have seen in countless family films. But the execution of it felt slightly different and its the films charming and playful heart made this a much more fun and emotional experience.

The way they the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood were portrayed was absolutely spot on, that and the strong writing made it to be such a magical experience rediscovering the love and popularity people had with these stories.

However, I'm not sure if I would totally recommend it for kids though. Younger children might lose patience with it as it doesn't rely on slapstick humor, loud noises, or bright colours. Older kids should be fine with it, but still might get bored of it at times.

To be honest, I think adults would get more out of it. Winnie The Pooh is a story that is not doing much a regeneration for the modern audience. I think the older generation would resonate from the Winnie The Pooh stories more than kids in my opinion.

However, if you are a parent and have told your kids about Winnie The Pooh and they are very much aware of this world, then by all means, take them to see this. It's an absolute delight, super-sweet, and executes its themes so beautifully.

With a sequel to Mary Poppins on the way, I felt this film has given a little bit of a hint of what to expect from the tone. The story arch of our central character felt very similar to Mr. Banks and I feel this could be the same feeling I'll have to Mary Poppins Returns. If that's the case, then I can't wait for its release just before Christmas.

I must mention that there is a mid-credits scene. Sadly, it doesn't add much to the story. But if you want to check out, then it's right in the middle of the credits for you to check it out.

Rating: 8/10