Ralph's Movie Reviews: ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

Saturday, November 26, 2011

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

Animated fantasy

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Ramona Marquez: Gwen, a little girl
James McAvoy: Arthur, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause
Hugh Laurie: their oldest son Steve
Jim Broadbent: Santa Clause
Imelda Stauton: Mrs. Santa Clause
Bill Nighy: Grandsanta, Santa's 136-year-old father
Ashley Jensen: Bryony, an elf from the Giftwrap Battalion

REVIEW
A rather creative and entirely new approach to the traditional Santa Clause story, this is about his two sons and their efforts towards getting the job done. In this case, the job is to deliver presents to all the boys and girls. Something the target audience of youngsters are all too familiar with and this keeps them enthralled.

Along the way there are a few laughs and a rip roaring trip to various continents until things get sorted out. The animation is first rate with the colours bright and lively.

One quibble I have though is the plot premise that Steve, the Operations Manager and heir apparent to Santa, is quite satisfied that most kids have got their present so there’s no need to get excited about one little girl that got overlooked. The fact Santa does not step in and insist this be rectified does not fit with the Santa of old.

CLASSIFICATION

for some mild rude humor.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
The Toronto skyline is missing the iconic CN Tower.

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my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.