Review: Arthur Christmas
I'm a sucker for stories that offer a fresh take on an established convention. Whether it's a new spin on the tried and true zombie tale (28 Days Later) or a re-interpretation of Sherlock Holmes (let's choose the BBC's Sherlock over the Robert Downey Jr. movies, shall we?), it's great fun to watch accomplished storytellers take familiar material and make it feel new again.
Arthur Christmas does much the same with its behind-the-scenes look at the Miracle of Christmas. No, not the forgiveness of our sins through God made flesh. Rather: how exactly does Santa Claus travel around the world to deliver all those presents on a single night, especially now that the world's population has exceeded seven billion? (Santa will be relieved to know that only two billion or so of those are actually Christian, but still.) The answer does involve magic, but in the 21st century that magic has been seriously augmented with some technological widgetry. The sleigh and reindeer have been retired in favor of a sleek spaceship with stealth capability and thousands (millions?) of ninja elves who rappel from the ship's interior to deliver the goods with a personal touch.
The embodiment of Santa himself is a family legacy -- as each Santa reaches retirement age, he passes the mantle down to his son to keep things ho-ho-ho-ing along. The man next in line is Steve (Hugh Laurie), the power behind the bumbling current Santa (Jim Broadbent, who has never bumbled better). Steve attacks the problem of Christmas gift delivery with an efficiency and technological prowess that would make Apple envious, but his Christmas spirit pales in comparison to that of his younger brother, Arthur (James McAvoy). Arthur can barely make it down the hallways of the subterranean North Pole Christmas HQ without causing trouble, but no one believes in Santa quite like he does.
The plot kicks in when it comes to light that a single child's present has been missed. Steve blows it off and offers some weak excuses for why they shouldn't bother to deliver the gift (a bicycle) to its intended recipient. There seem to be hours left until the kid wakes up and they do have an impossibly fast spaceship, after all, but Steve -- feeling churlish when it turns out his father isn't retiring this year after all -- insists that one missed present is nothing to worry about. Arthur naturally disagrees and enlists the help of the retired Grand-Santa (Bill Nighy) to get the sleigh and reindeer out of mothballs for one more ride.
The mythology of the world of Arthur Christmas is complex and satisfying. While certain aspects (like just how does a new Santa find a Mrs. Santa to continue the family line?) of the Santa gig are glossed over, the film plays by the rules that it sets up at the beginning and doesn't cheat when those rules become inconvenient. Likewise the characters have real emotions and motivations, whether they are old coots pining for their glory days or plucky two-foot-tall elves looking to prove themselves worthy of their station in Santa's workshop. Speaking of the elves, I was impressed with the depth of character imparted to the various elf characters. There are some who are present for comic relief, true, but still -- it's rather pleasing to see a fantasy in which Santa's elves can push back and even cancel Christmas if they lose confidence in their leader.
Arthur Christmas is the second computer-animated feature for Aardman Animations, the people who have brought us Wallace and Gromit and the various branches of that family tree. (The only nod to this legacy I could detect was a strategically placed Shaun the Sheep toy in one scene.) If anyone had doubts about the studio's leap from claymation to CGI, this film should dispel them immediately. Its emotional punch is real, its characters endearing, and its visuals alternately stunning and amusing. Above all, the movie is as genuinely funny and touching as any of the Wallace and Gromit adventures. In today's world, any animated movie that comes along must inevitably be measured by the Pixar yardstick. It's not a stretch to say that by those standards of quality Arthur Christmas stands tall -- even if most of its characters do not.