What's it all about? It is Christmas Eve and Father Christmas (with the help of his ninja-like elves) is delivering presents to every girl and boy. Due to a hideous error, the bicycle meant for a little girl in Cornwall is not delivered and everyone heads back to the North Pole. Steve, the elder son of Father Christmas, is like a marine - all organisation, slick technology and impersonal. His younger brother, the eponymous Arthur, is a dreamer and a romantic, determined that the bicycle be delivered to Cornwall, even as time is running out. Steve thinks one lost present is an acceptable margin of error, so Arthur sets off with Grand-Santa, a knackered reindeer and an old-fashioned sleigh to try to make it all right.
*****
What's it like? If nothing else, this utterly charming and at times laugh-out-loud funny film from Aardman (Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run - but with CGI instead of plasticine) can help answer the age-old question of how Father Christmas gets to everyone in one night. His army of elves showing breath-taking dexterity and speed in an opening sequence that would be well at home in a high-concept action-thriller. After that scintillating opening, the film settles down to show us Father Christmas, Steve and Arthur and then propels the latter off on his adventure to deliver the girl's bike in time for sunrise. At times the pace is relentless and thrillingly so, at others it breathes a little to give us the important character beats that enable the rest of the action to hang together in an engaging way. Arthur is a great character, sweet, clumsy, utterly committed and the frankly bonkers Grand-Santa makes for a splendid comic foil for him. We also have an elf, Bryony, who finds herself promoted from a "mere" present wrapper to a full on side-kick, showing herself resourceful and spunky in a heart-warming way.
Christmas needs these sorts of films so that we can watch them in the run up to Christmas Eve and warm our hearts with something that not only builds excitement and anticipation, but also reminds us that over-indulged appetites and rampant consumerism do not the season make.
As a film, it is well-paced, if perhaps a fraction over-long (the wrong turns made on the way to Cornwall do become a little repetitive), the voice-work is faultless (James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie and Bill Nighy all chip in) and the mixture of thrills, laughs and genuine warmth instantly propel this into the Christmas Classic list. A wonderful, wonderful film.
Christmas needs these sorts of films so that we can watch them in the run up to Christmas Eve and warm our hearts with something that not only builds excitement and anticipation, but also reminds us that over-indulged appetites and rampant consumerism do not the season make.
As a film, it is well-paced, if perhaps a fraction over-long (the wrong turns made on the way to Cornwall do become a little repetitive), the voice-work is faultless (James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie and Bill Nighy all chip in) and the mixture of thrills, laughs and genuine warmth instantly propel this into the Christmas Classic list. A wonderful, wonderful film.
*****
Should I see it? Yes, yes, yes. There is just nothing offensive or troubling here at all, unless Christmas isn't really your thing in the first place. We saw it as a family and although some of the plot developments went over the head of my 5-year old, it kept us all gripped and chuckling for a merry 90-odd minutes.
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