Christopher Robin (2018 Film) Review
Ewan McGregor stars as the titular character in "Christopher Robin," a film about the boy from A. A. Milne's stories who is now grown-up and has a wife and daughter. After finding himself in a difficult spot with his family and job, Winnie the Pooh shows up, requesting that Christopher help him find his lost friends in the Hundred Acre Wood.
Jim Cummings, who has voiced the characters for thirty years, reprises the role of Pooh and Tigger. Brad Garrett provides the voice for Eeyore. "Christopher Robin" marks the first time that Piglet, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, and Owl are all voiced by new actors. The characters are voiced by Nick Mohammed, Peter Capaldi, Sophie Okonedo, Sara Sheen, and Toby Jones respectively. Hayley Attwell plays Christopher's wife, Evelyn, and Bronte Carmichael plays their daughter, Madeline.
"Christopher Robin" is directed by Marc Forster, who most recently directed "All I See Is You." You may know him as the director of films like "Finding Neverland," "Quantum of Solace," and "World War Z." Alex Ross Perry and Allison Schroeder wrote the screenplay for the film while Brigham Taylor and Kristin Burr serves as producers.
Introduction
I figure the best place to begin this review, is to explain my connection to the Winnie the Pooh brand. While I enjoy the books and a like some of the many films Disney has made (the 2011 film, for me, is actually the perfect "Winnie the Pooh" movie), I don't revisit the films and novels often to consider myself a fan of the brand. However, when I saw the teaser trailer for "Christopher Robin," and heard Jim Cummings' voice as Pooh once again, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. All of those experiences, few as they may have been, were immediately recalled from the back of my mind, causing me to tear up the first few times I watched it. As the marketing proceeded, my nostalgic feelings toward the brand continued to shaped how I viewed it. As I began to put aside nostalgia and look at the story, I found one similar to many films whose names I refuse to mention because they were all awful and shall never be spoken of ever again. In any case, because the story seemed so familiar, I started to question if all "Christopher Robin" had to offer was nostalgia. Is that true?Overall Thoughts
To some degree, no. Yes, part of the charm of "Christopher Robin" comes from seeing Pooh and company doing their individual quirks. Thankfully, they decided a story, one that's a little familiar yet completely works because of the set of characters the movie is dealing with. You could guess of some of the decisions the characters would make, but the writing and actors make the more commonplace elements of the picture less troublesome.Die-hard fans of A. A. Milne's stories will likely be upset with the general premise of "Christopher Robin, " a premise that flies in the face of the messages that Milne got across with his stories. Where Milne taught that letting childhood things go was a part of life and that Christopher Robin was doing what any other child does, this movie comes along and makes Christopher look like a villain for letting Pooh and company go, not to mention for working the weekend. The crucial thing is, though, that he's clearly not happy about working the weekend, but he stays because his job depends on it, and yet the film fails to get this point across to his wife and daughter. Therefore, we have to sit through scenes of Evelyn and Madeline hating him for making the decision to stay home. These scenes wouldn't have to exist if Christopher, or rather the script, informed them of his reasoning as to why he's staying home for the weekend. For the record, this doesn't bother me as much as you might think. It is, however, the biggest issue that I have with the film since it is key to the whole story.
Now, the opening of the film is pitch-perfect material. Primarily because it relies on the "show, don't tell" method. We see Christopher wish his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood farewell which is then followed by a series of events that he experiences, all which happen with little-to-no dialogue. He goes through boarding school, meets and eventually marries Evelyn, is enlisted into war which causes him to miss the birth of Madeline, returns home, and slowly becomes distant from the rest of his family. To me, that sequence was the best part of the film. It surprised me with how mature it was (at first, I questioned the PG rating), but also with how much effort director Marc Foster put into a film that many will decide to not see. Who would've thought a Winnie-the-Pooh spin-off would have this much detail?
The Cast
Prior to the seeing "Christopher Robin," I actually did not care that much about Ewan McGregor as, well, Christopher Robin. For me, seeing this movie was more about seeing Pooh and the gang back together in a movie after seven years. After that opening montage though, I was hooked into this interpretation of Christopher Robin. Once more, I'm not a die-hard fan of A. A. Milne's stories, so I was open to any experimentation with the character. McGregor is the real reason why this film works. Oh, I give credit to the screenwriters and the director, but none of their effort would've been worth anything if the wrong actor was in the role, but fortunately, McGregor was the right man for the job. He gave Christopher an edge that almost made the character unlikeable which ended up working in the film's favor when Christopher finally found himself. If I'm being honest, as standard as it is, the "man needing to rediscover himself" premise worked wonders for this character. Considering how open-ended A. A. Milne's tales were, the choices for where the character went made sense. It might not have entirely fit in with what he wrote, but if I was asked to make a movie about an adult Christopher Robin, what I would've done is almost like what Marc Foster ended up doing.
As for his co-stars, Hayley Attwell and Bronte Carmichael, they were incredibly minor characters in the story. Beyond the fact that they were disappointed about Christopher staying home for work, their characters didn't have a lot of dimension. It seemed like all they did was nag Christopher until the very end of the film. I suppose the acting from both actresses is fine. They two just need more character for me to get interested in them.
"People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day." That is one of the many words of wisdom given to us by good old Winnie the Pooh. While many actors have voiced the character over the years, Jim Cummings is the perfect Pooh. His voice is exactly what Pooh is: warm and light-hearted. With "Christopher Robin," Cummings continues to do what he's done with the character for the last thirty years. The only change that is made to Pooh is his look. This is the first time that Pooh has been portrayed in a live-action film. It was a jarring change at first, but as I saw him more, I have to say that the transition to live-action couldn't have been better.
The same applies to the other animals. Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl, and Rabbit may have minor roles, but suffice to say, all of them were the characters that we know and love. Most of these actors have never voiced these characters, so I was expecting them to seem more like imitators of those who came before. That was not the case. For the little time that they had, they seemed to embody the characters that A. A. Milne wrote, and that was my primary concern with having new voices behind some of these characters.
Score
Geoff Zanelli and Jon Brion's score for "Christopher Robin" brings back the classic themes and songs from previous Winnie the Pooh movies. The duo do a good job making sure the score fits into the spirit of the franchise, but their music isn't as original as I had hoped. I didn't recall any new or inventive themes that they themselves created for the film. The two simply stick to what's been done before in the franchise.
There are, however, three new songs in "Christopher Robin" that were created by Richard Sherman, a legend if you know your Disney. These three songs include, "Goodbye, Farewell," "Busy Doing Nothing," and "Christopher Robin." The three were all written by Sherman and two of them are sung by Sherman in the ending credits. In fact, "Busy Doing Nothing" is played inside a mid-credits scene, so stick around to see that. Sherman's work here stands up with the songs he's written for several other Disney films in the past. While all three of these songs are delightful and add further proof that Richard Sherman still has a lot of talent left inside him, they aren't ones that I'll be revisiting time and time again, but that doesn't negate Richard Sherman's work
Grade: B
Containing a mature and endearing story that'll entertain adults as well as children, "Christopher Robin" is a delightful return to A. A. Milne's creations. I'd say see it, even if you are not a fan of Winnie the Pooh.
Conclusion
That wraps up my review of "Christopher Robin." Feel free to share your thoughts on my review in the comments below. Let me know what film you'd like me to review next as well. Share this review with your friends and family. Thanks for reading, I'm Dallin, the Film Fanatic, bye-bye.
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