CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (Malaysia, 16 Aug 2018)

Genre: Family / Adventure / Animation

Running Length: 1:44

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, Jim Cummings, Brad Garrett, Nick Mohammed

Director: Marc Forster

Screenplay: Alex Ross Perry, Tom McCarthy, Allison Schroeder based on the characters from Disney's Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne & E. H. Shepard

What's this movie about?

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN is a fresh take on the classic Winnie The Pooh. It tells the tale of a grown up and middle-aged Christopher Robin (McGregor) who has left the Hundred Acre Woods many years ago. He has long forgotten his friends Winnie the Pooh and co. The adult Christopher is now struggling at work and has neglected his family, and it's up to Pooh and gang to "save" him.

Highlights!

• The "soft toy" approach to the creation of Pooh and gang. Rather than the bright yellow and red T-shirt Pooh or the colourful orange with black stripes Tigger we are all familiar with, the filmmakers chose a blend of live action (real stuffed toys) and CGI in the creation of the creatures. This I reckon is a genius move. By making them look like well-used and worn out soft toys, audiences would be able to connect at a deeper level to these characters because of its lifelike appearance. So, when we see Pooh waiting daily in the hope for Christopher Robin to return to Hundred Acre Woods one day, I could actually feel his abandonment.        
• The seamless integration between Pooh and gang with the humans. There is this heart-warming extended sequence where adult Christopher reconnects with Pooh; he feeds Pooh with honey and tucks his friend into bed. Those tender moments really gave me the feels.  
• A visual delight. The cinematography is just so beautiful to watch especially Hundred Acre Woods.

Lowlights

• The film failed to make a film for both adults and kids. It just couldn't find its balance between a midlife-crisis drama and children’s film. The end result felt unfocused. 
• The performances of the cast. McGregor, Atwell and kid Carmichael were OK but the rest of the cast came across as more "cartoon" than Pooh and gang.   
• The debatable decision to make Christopher’s furry friends visible to other people instead of just being confined to the figments of his imagination.  

In summary

For me, the first half of the movie was much more enjoyable than the second half. Perhaps it had more focused. Nevertheless, it's a delight to watch Pooh and gang in action while nodding in agreement to Pooh's "tao of wisdom". 

RATING: 7/10

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017)

Genre: Musical
Running Length: 2:09
Cast: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, Ian McKellen, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Stanley Tucci
Director: Bill Condon
Screenplay: Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos

You've got to give it to the House of Mouse for creating yet another stable revenue $tream; adapting their classic animations into live-action movies. With Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella and The Jungle Book, and now BEAUTY AND THE BEAST breaking all sorts of box office records, we will definitely be expecting more of such adaptations coming our way.

In all honesty, I did enjoy myself with this movie. Not because it offered anything new to add another layer to a classic we all know (like how Maleficent did), but it just felt familiar - like meeting an old friend. It was 2 hours of pleasant nostalgia. It's probably because it follows the 1991 animation classic to the tee.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. I found myself humming to the songs and was actually looking forward to the iconic scenes; the lively Be Our Guest number and of course, the ballroom dancing scene. 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'. To be fair, there were some new compositions but they were mostly forgettable. And the attempt to provide some additional background to the characters were commendable but unfortunately, it didn't add any depth to them.

As for the casting, all were solid. But a big shout out to Luke Evans for playing the narcissistic Gaston. I remembered the animated Gaston to be this stereotype beefcake with not much happening up there. But Evans somehow managed to give Gaston a more "human" quality. Whenever he's on screen, he delivers his part with plenty of gusto.

I suspect for those who have not watched the predecessor, this 2017 version could be a magical experience for them. But for purists who grew up with the classic, I can only imagine it would suffer by comparison.

RATING: 7.5/10