Arthur Christmas

This movie had a great overall story of trying to deliver a missed present on Christmas Eve but despite the good reviews that “Arthur Christmas” received, I feel that it had one flaw that negatively affected the rest of the film: its pace.

It seems that computer animation has freed Aardman from the limitations of pace that were inherent with stop-motion animation in the same way that motion capture has freed Robert Zemeckis from the confines of live-action cinematography. My point is that the animation of Aardman’s films is no longer restricted and this caused the pace of storytelling in “Arthur Christmas” to be a little too fast for my taste. It was hard to fully absorb every gag and every plot point that happened in this movie. I had no time to fully relate to the characters because there was too much talking and to much happening. Before I could process what one character said for example, the other character was saying something important or funny. The movie does provide interesting answers to the questions that kids have about Santa and how he can do his impossible job. The best quality that this movie has is scale. Again, Aardman is no longer limited in how large they can make their sets. This story however required a large scale. Mission control is quite impressive. The film had many plot points or phrases that were introduced as inconsequential and then were reprised or were paid off later and that is good storytelling. Some examples include who gets to be “Santa” in the board game and “There’s always time for a bow.” The film had funny moments like the alien running gag and I like the hopeless feeling that is apparent in the film. The genuine worry that our heroes might fail is dramatic and it provides the excitement that is needed for the film’s success. “Arthur Christmas” has the Aardman trademark design and the animated performances also feel Aardman in nature. The casting worked in some cases. Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton (who was in Aardman’s “Chicken Run”) were great for their characters. Funny enough, all those actors have performed in the Harry Potter series. However, James McAvoy sounded a little too old to play the naïve Arthur and Hugh Laurie's voice just did not match his character enough. It was nice to have Joan Cusack, Robbie Coltrane (another Harry Potter actor) and Andy Serkis in this show even though I didn’t recognize them.

“Arthur Christmas” has good qualities but is not as good as Sony Pictures Animation's “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”. That film had a controlled pace and a well-established hero while “Arthur Christmas” lacked a little in those characteristics. The film was enjoyable but not as much as it could have been. I felt a little overwhelmed after the movie ended. I think someone forgot to hold on to the reins during production.

3 Stars