Christopher Robin
Directed by: Marc Forster
Christopher Robin is the charming new, live action chapter to the Winnie the Pooh story directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner) and starring Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael with the voice talent of Brad Garrett, Toby Jones and Jim Cummings .
The film follows Christopher Robin as he has grown up and experienced the tragedies of life, forgetting about his friends in Hundred Acre Woods. Not only has Christopher forgotten about his old friends Pooh, Tigger, Piglet , Eeyore and rest, he has also forgot what it means to love others. Pooh and the gang, wanting their old friend back, set out on an expedition to teach Christopher what it means to love again.
The most impressive feature of this film is the animation of Pooh, Tigger and the other characters who are made to look as if they truly are old children’s stuffed animals. It is so well done that it is easy to forget that our friends in the Hundred Acre Woods aren’t real actors playing the part but the work of talented animators and voices actors bringing the characters to life.
Ewan MacGregor gave a solid and convincing performance as the title character. Haley Atwell was charming as Evelyn the wife of Christopher. But who really stole the show was Bronte Carmichael portraying Madeline, the daughter of Christopher Robin. Her performance and emotional range was impressive, especially for a child her age. Watch out for her in the future.
The voice acting was on point. I don’t think anyone expected anything less, especially from Jim Cummings. The most impressive voice casting, I believe, was Brad Garrett as Eeyore. This of course is spot on and there is no one on earth can take the mantle of Eeyore like Brad Garrett.
The story is sure to pull on peoples heartstrings and maybe even have you shed a tear or two. One drawback is the second act of this film does drag a bit. In an effort to set up the climax, the middle of the film takes a lot of time to set up the plot points to give us the finale. There were some things here I believe that could’ve been adjusted or scaled back to give the film a faster, more engaging pace. With that said though the story will warm your heart and give you all the feels.
Christopher Robin is a heartwarming new telling of the Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin story. I hope to see more of these films in the future and I know my kids sure loved it as well.
Overall, I give the film an 8 out of 10.
Andy Herndon is a husband, dad, film geek, Disney nerd, free lance video editor, YouTuber, media consultant, podcaster and film student at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, OR. You can follow him on all the various social media networks at @andyherndon, listen to him on http://www.thedcast.com or see him on YouTube at youtube.com/andyherndon