Normally, I'm not a big "Christmas spirit" kind of guy. All the corny songs and silly traditions are just not my cup of tea. That's why I was so surprised by Arthur Christmas, an unabashedly corny holiday movie which somehow still managed to warm my heart.
Arthur Christmas is the story of the titular character, who is one of Santa's clumsy sons. In his world, Santa is a family name which is passed down through the generations. Arthur longs to spread his love of Christmas by helping his father, but his hotshot brother, Steve, is next in line for the sleigh. Steve's modernized take on Santa's rounds is efficient - it uses a giant spaceship shaped like a sleigh which travels at impossibly fast speeds - but uncaring and distant. When the speedy system misses a house, Arthur, along with the help of his grandpa and a spunky elf, decides to deliver the wayward present himself.
Aardman Animations, the geniuses behind Wallace and Gromit, have branched out past their usual stop-motion technology to deliver a beautifully-crafted, visually-pleasing film. Some purists may be dismayed at this departure, but the CGI is so gorgeous that it's hard to complain. The style of animation allows frenetic action and huge crowd scenes to flow seamlessly across the screen. This is a fast-paced movie with very few quiet moments, and that frantic tone shines through in the movie's presentation.
Still, what would good animation be without a wonderful and hilarious story? The most endearing aspect about the film is its originality. It takes tired Christmas movie themes and breathes new life into them. For example, I loved that it gave explanations of the tactics used by Santa and the elves; the extended opening sequence to the movie, in which the elves are presented as special ops soldiers, is wonderful and not to be missed.
The story is buoyed by a hilarious script and great interplay between the exceptional voice cast. James McAvoy is appropriately dorky and lovable as Arthur and infuses the character with a contagious love of Christmas which infected even a skeptic like me. Jim Broadbent as Santa and Hugh Laurie as Steve are amiable as the straight men who have lost sight of the true meaning of Christmas spirit. But it's Bill Nighy who absolutely steals the show as Grandsanta, who's still spry at 136 years old. His lines are gut-bustingly funny at times, though you have to listen closely to hear all of them.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the film, it is not an instant classic, and Pixar still rules the CGI genre with amazing movies like Toy Story and A Bug's Life. The pacing is not perfect either, with a slight narrative lull three-fourths of the way through. But these gripes are very minor, and overall the movie impresses. The stimulating animation, the clever script and the original story come together to create a magically entertaining film which everyone - even Scrooges like me - can enjoy.
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