Nicole C As the film title suggests, this is a festive film, dedicated to that of Christmas. And it definitely takes on a unique approach to the concept of Santa and gift-giving. With a military like procedure, the elves act as soldiers under the command of Steve, to safely deliver presents without exposure. However, this is jeopardized when a child is missed, and chaos breaks loose.The animation is cute and the colors are very complementary to the tone of the film. The characters however, are too stock like and have very stereotypical shapes; the stick, the oval, and the upside down triangle. A bit too much cartoon-like for my taste, with the emphasis on shape matching personality.The voice acting is pretty good. I couldn't tell that it was James McAvoy, and I think he might have altered his voice to match his character. Some of the voices of the elves are a little too squeaky for my taste, but they certainly match - once again, the size of their respectable characters.As for the plot, it isn't anything outstanding. While the idea behind having a story centered on the son of Santa helps to bring a new perspective on things, I didn't really like how Santa was depicted. Logically, Santa would have been doing this for decades, but it was depicted that he didn't really know what he was doing. Also, the military take on delivering presents might have been a cool idea, but it implies a sort of invasion and detracts some of the warmth that is associated with the event. It doesn't help that this is a truly patriarchal film, with Mrs.Santa doing predominantly housekeeping, and Bryony having special 'gift- wrapping' ability. Overall, it's a fun film to watch, but it won't be my go to Christmas movie.

morrison-dylan-fan Searching round on Netflix UK,I decided to take a look at their "Festive Features" section and I spotted a Christmas movie from Aardman Animation,which led to me getting ready to meet Arthur.The plot:Working in the letters department, Arthur Claus looks up in awe at his dad Malcolm,who is the latest member of the family to take the role of Santa.Needing to give every child a present,Santa and his other son Steve design space ships which allow them to travel the world in record time.Relying on machines to keep track of the presents being dropped off,the Christmas's and their elves do not notice that they have forgotten to deliver one present.Expecting to be given the job of new Santa,Steve is disappointed to find out that Malcolm plans to continue being Santa for years to come.Cleaning up the place,an elf discovers the undelivered present. Worried about how upset the child will be,Arthur decides that they must get the present to the child right away,but soon discovers that the rest of the family lack his Christmas Spirit.View on the film:Changing their animation method from clay stop-motion to CGI,co- writer/(along with Peter Baynham) director Sarah Smith and fellow director Barry Cook keep Aardman's distinctive features intact,as speedy whip-pans catch every wide-tooth grin and extra large eyes,whilst the Claus workshop gets filled with Aardman's trademark background gags which make repeat viewings of their works a Christmas cracker worth pulling. Following the Claus's (and the elves) on their deliveries,the directors make each location wonderfully distinctive,as the sleight goes from the dizzying lights of Toronto to the scorching hot jungles of Africa.Opening with a gallery featuring the history of Santa's,the writers deliciously keep the warm Christmas message intact,but hilariously show Santa trying to modernise his operations,that lead to all of the Claus's having to dust off their old ways,as they each struggle to get the hang of the Santa Sat-Nav.Walking round in a X-Mas jumper, James McAvoy gives a great performance as Arthur,thanks to McAvoy making sure to keep Arthur's passion for Christmas sincere rather than twee.Joining McAvoy in his X-Mas jumper, Hugh Laurie gives a very funny huff & puff performance as Steve,whilst Jim Broadbent is the perfect fit for the voice of the Aardman Santa.

rbn_lrk-1 It's not Arthur from the 2011 remake.Not either Arthur from TV.This is the story of Arthur the son Santa Clause.In this version Santa Clause and his friends are living on a spaceship.The minions are using the latest technology, as they are traveling out to deliver presents.But, a child is missing as Arthur and his friends travels around the globe to find Trelew.That ranks from being stranded in Africa, and Trelew in Mexico too.The characters are fun and lively, and there are also a lot of emotion.In the animation category it's top notch.From the various gizmo's, and to the spaceship.This was worth the Golden Globe nomination.10/10

Ross622 A few weeks before I saw this so called "Well done Christmas movie" i made a wishful statement which stated that I hope not to see an bad Christmas movies throughout this entire month and yesterday when i saw this movie for the first time that statement didn't come true at all. All the movie is about is a dopey character study of a clumsy boy named Arthur (voiced by James McAvoy) who is the son of Santa (voiced by Jim Broadbent) who after he realizes that one Christmas present is forgotten he goes on a so called entertaining adventure with his grandfather who was once Santa Claus (voiced by Bill Nighy) a 136 year old man who dresses back up as Santa Claus and doesn't even know where this young British girl named Gwen (voiced by Ramona Marquez) even lives because he thinks that she either lives in Mexico, Canada, or Tanzania when she doesn't. The movie that this reminded me of in a very stupidly similar way was Frozen (2013) because they were both dopey races against time for different happenings. But they have to get to her within 2 hours and back to the North Pole when in the movie's clumsy case isn't at all possible. Also the movie is nothing at all like Christmas classics such as It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), or A Christmas Story (1983). This is one of the worst movies of 2011, as well as one of the worst movie I have ever seen.