Directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland; The Kite Runner; World War Z; Quantum of Solace; Monsters Ball) and starring Ewan McGregor (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; Fargo; Trainspotting; Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Deception; Angels & Demons), Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger; Ant-Man; Cinderella; Testament of Youth), Bronte Carmichael (Darkest Hour; On Chesil Beach) and Mark Gatiss (Sherlock; Our Kind of Traitor; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; The League of Gentlemen).
Family drama; 104 mins; 6+
Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) is now grown up and married to Evelyn (Hayley Atwell), together they have a young daughter Madeline (Bronte Carmichael). It is set in the aftermath of WWI, in which Christopher Robin served his country abroad, and he now works in London for a company, Winslow, which makes luggage for the upper class. He works hard and struggles to get home in the evenings or at week-ends, to see his wife and daughter. And his boss, Giles Winslow (Mark Gatiss), the son of the owner, is bullying him to work throughout the week-end instead of taking a holiday to the countryside with his family.
The build-up to when the action starts to happen takes a long time and the audience is wondering if they have been let down. This film is nothing like the recent Paddingtion Bear live-action film, and its sequel, it is more melancholy and serene that Paddington's fun and chaos, but "Christopher Robin" does certainly exude themes of friendship, love and family.
Half-way through the film, after the audience has been introduced to Christopher Robin's childhood friends Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo, Evelyn and Madeleine are staying in the family's country cottage. It's when she meets the characters of A.A. Milne from the Hundred Acre Wood - in a glorious scene on the run-down tennis court - that the film sparks to life. Up to then, Madeleine - and the film is as much about here as it is about her father - has been very studious, trying her best to excel in everything she does and to please her father. It is her mother who encourages her to go outside and "play", and that's when she encounters her father's childhood friend Winnie-the-Pooh and the rest of the "gang".
By this time the storyline is almost irrelevant, the audience wants to see how she will take to the talking and "live-action" characters. All the same, the storyline fades into the background as Madeleine does indeed have fun, and they do all go on a big adventure. And, yes, they do all live happily ever after.
But one of the most fascinating aspects of this film is how the animals' characters are developed and portrayed on the big screen. One of theses way is the script, but there are plenty of others too. While Tigger is exuberant and does bounce around on his coiled tail, Piglet lacks confidence, and Roo is inquisitive and naieve, but it is Eeyore who is continually depressed - but his friends rally around him as always.
The film "Christopher Robin" stays true to the books and characters of A.A. Milne, albeit being set when Christopher Robin himself is grown up. He then passes his childhood pastimes of "doing nothing" and having adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood to his daughter...
