Mission Noël

Took this one in at the 2nd run theatre this afternoon with my 5 year old son and 3 year old daughter.

I think that for the most part, they enjoyed it though I think the humour and writing may have actually fit for a bit older crowd.

To be honest my wife and i were both surprised how entertaining WE found the film. The prattling one-liners from Grandsanta were hilarious!

And the whole high-tech concept applied to Santa does probably the best job yet at coming across with a conceivable plan for how Santa pulls it all off in one night.

I think in a couple of years my kids may appreciate it even more, as they get old enough to understand some of the more sophisticated humour.

At any rate, a surprisingly cute Christmas flick.

"A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together." Garrison Keillor

Where I live, too many Christmas Carol adaptations take the place of imaginative theater productions that could celebrate the holidays without the requisite Scrooge redemption. Arthur Christmas is a refreshing new take on the countless Santa stories, notwithstanding my favorite: Bad Santa, which satisfies my need for the new and irreverent.

Arthur (James McAvoy) is one of Santa's two sons, a bungler with a big heart. He takes it on his own to bring a present to the one girl in all the land whose present was not delivered. His technocrat brother, Steve (Hugh Laurie), has been responsible for the mis-delivery, although his array of laptops for elves and computerized delivery system is impressive. The head versus the heart forms the central conflict, providing laughs and groans but never in a mean way as in Bad Santa.

Aardman CG works its animation magic to create big-nosed, elongated-faced characters like GrandSanta (Bill Nighy), Santa (Jim Broadbent), and Mrs. Santa (Imelda Staunton), all of whom are fleshed out as loving characters with quirks just right for their roles.

In regard to developing character, Aardman goes nose to nose with Pixar. The use of 3-D is unobtrusive as it is in Martin Scorsese's Hugo with the process useful to give flights of the sleighs a grand feel, swooping in and out of perspective. Yet, in the end, regardless of the jazzy visuals, it's a lovely and exciting story for the holidays. As soon as the younger audience adjusts to the Brit accents, and that doesn't take long, they will enjoy the high spirits, good will, dry humor, and imagination they deserve and should expect from the masters of unique animation.

It's wonderful filmmaking that touches the heart with affectionate Brit humor.

I want to give this a 7, but its originality boosts it to an 8.

The story is predictable, but fun, but the tri-planar nature (Father-Father-Son) of the piece with off shoots of wife, mother, brother and friend, mean this is truly a film about a family Christmas.

Nothing unexpected happens, but I found myself laughing and egging Arthur on all the way! A film that succeeds in entertaining children and, in making the older viewers feel the onset of rosy and sometimes, emotional family nostalgia.

A more original plot may have blunted the message, but would also have engaged my brain.

Regardless, well done! A good Christmas film to add to the ranks.

This film should be a certain addition to any classic christmas film collection. As always, Ardman took their time on this animated picture and it cannot be faulted. The fantastic cast of experienced British actors really help make the comedy and light-heartedness of the film which is dotted with jokes to make adults laugh too. The story is very straightforward but the way it gets from start to end includes enough unexpecetd turns to keep a watcher engaded. Ends in a greatly happy note.

Okay for me, it was simple but perfection! Simple storyline, great animation, great characters! This movie is what Children Animation should be like! The movie was not bad and it also had a nice theme to it. The bad guys weren't to violent or vicious like other children animation. But if you think about it there were not really any bad guys at all. There were only a few violent moments (explosion of 'Eve') and I thought at one moment the older brother was going to do something bad but it kept to the innocence. Great movie for young kids and older viewers looking for a calm, fun night to enjoy! Great work to everyone who were involved.