Christopher Robin Review

PG: Some Mild ActionDisney1 Hr and 44 MinutesDir: Marc Foster | Writer: Alex Ross Perry, Tom McCarthy, Allison SchroederCast: Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, Simon FarnabyVoice Cast: Jim Cummings, Brad Garrett, Nick Mohammed, Peter Capaldi, Sophie Okonedo, Sara Sheen, Toby JonesOut of every franchise that Disney has latched on to throughout the years, they always seem to revisit Winnie the Pooh the most. Before they started this phase of adapting their classic animated movies into live action features, Disney went through several theatrical phases in the early 21st century, one being TV-to-big-screen adaptations for most of their series. Since 2000, there have been five theatrical Winnie the Pooh movies, including this one. You had “The Tigger Movie” (2000), “Piglet’s Big Movie” (2003), “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie” (2005), “Winnie the Pooh” (2011), and now “Christopher Robin” (2018).So, when you think of Disney’s most bankable franchises always think of Winnie the Pooh, a franchise that ironically never seems to make Disney bank; but hopefully “Christopher Robin” makes the money that “Winnie the Pooh” (2011) should’ve.
An adult Christopher Robin, who is now focused on his new life, work, and family, suddenly meets his old friend Winnie the Pooh, who returns to his unforgotten childhood past to help him return to the Hundred Acre Wood and help find Pooh's lost friends. THE GOODAfter providing the iconic voices for more than 30 years, it's about time to say it: Jim Cummings IS Winnie the Pooh (and Tigger, too). Even though he is known best as both Pooh and Tigger, Cummings proves that no matter what Pooh-related project Disney has him doing, whether it’s a film or a TV series, he can express the characters’ emotions like no other. His voice performance mostly carries the movie because he is the voice that people associate when you say, “Winnie the Pooh” or “Tigger”. The film shines best when it is focused on Robin and Pooh because Pooh maintains his calm and lovable charm.When Christopher Robin gets to the 100 Acre Woods, the movie works it’s Disney magic where it grippingly tugs on your heartstrings and plays with your sweet sweet tears (and nostalgia). So, whenever a character mentions a Heffalump, a Woozle, or (personally) when Tigger sings his “Wonderful Thing About Tiggers” song, your eyes light up like an anime character’s:
Speaking of voices, the rest of the voice cast does a serviceable job to the characters they portray. One of the voices who blows you away is Brad Garrett as Eeyore. Peter Cullen is still kicking it and was surprised they didn’t ask him to reprise his voice like Paramount has him do for Optimus Prime, but Brad Garrett does a great job. He already has a deep and bellowing voice, so putting a little somber tone to it is practically Eeyore. His delivery and timing is so impeccable that he is mostly the comic relief.
The film plays like a continuation to all the Pooh movies that Disney passionately (and shamelessly) distributed in the last 20 years. The film starts off incredibly strong where you see Christopher Robin departing from his childhood friends and is forced to mature into adulthood. It has an opening reminiscent of “Up” where the visuals tell the story of how Christopher Robin grew more stern and serious as he got older. It’s an incredibly depressing opening… and then for some reason the movie gets silly.THE BADRight after the 15 minute mark, there is a drastic shift of tone from dark and mature to comical and goofy. There is a scene of war in the movie, and then you have Christopher Robin at work where his boss is bumbling as he knocks over briefcases and then his coworkers hide as they eavesdrop on their meeting.
Did an executive from the studio say, “We’re Disney. We can’t let this be smart and dignified. We’ll be as silly as ALL OF OUR CURRENT MOVIES ARE!” If this was released in 2013 or a decade ago, that tone would have been consistent. Ever since,“The Last Jedi” I’ve been seeing a trend of Disney movies only consisting of comedy. With the exception of “Infinity War”, ALL of Disney’s features have been either inconsistent in tone or just going straight up comical. I really like “Incredibles 2” but I only see it as more of a comedy than a Pixar movie with emotional depth and substance. The inconsistency is present there, and it’s present here and I’m really tired of it. Disney following the comical slapstick route goes against the true nature of these characters. As a matter of fact, they’re doing a disservice to these characters.I expected friggin’ Disney to not ruin Winnie the Pooh. They don’t ruin Winnie the Pooh’s character or anything, but the movie gives him the typical “live action character in the real world” treatment that lesser family films have been doing forever. One of the first things Pooh does when he gets into Christopher Robin’s house is, of course, mess it up and break things unintentionally. It would’ve been funny if Garfield, Paddington, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Smurfs, and Fat Albert hadn’t done it before. The only thing that makes it work is Pooh’s charm.
One of my biggest issues with the previous Pooh movie was how short it was. In actuality, “Winnie the Pooh” (2011) had a running time of one hour, yet it was damn near perfect. The movie was well-paced and told a delightful tale, but it would have benefited from being longer. After watching this, I think it's safe to say I’m glad all the other Pooh movies clocked in barely past an hour long because a little bit of Pooh and his friends goes a looooong way. When the stuffed animals all get to the real world and infiltrate the city of London, the movie goes from being silly and wacky to loud and manic, WHICH IS NOT WINNIE THE POOH!Unlike everyone else, I was very fond of the character designs of Pooh when I saw the trailer. Seeing it played out on a big screen is significantly different. It’s either that the VFX looks unfinished, especially when there are closeup shots, or I wasn’t keen on how they have these characters move, but wow these stuffed animals look like they came out of the uncanny valley. By the time this is released on digital, I might get the movie just so I can recut a trailer and make it look like a horror movie. The designs of the characters are done with good intentions, bringing them back to what they are in the first place: stuffed animals. But you couldn’t give them a bit more color? You couldn’t have Pooh be a bit more yellow?  It’s as if director Marc Foster asked the folks at Disney “Hey can you spend a little more time finishing these characters?” and Disney said, “Nah we already have a release date and can’t shift any more dates around.” And then, Marc Foster responded with:
LAST STATEMENTLacking the simplicity and innocence of every other Pooh-related project Disney has released, “Christopher Robin” juggles way too many ideas and can’t seem to think, think, think on which to aim towards, resulting in a very tonally imbalanced mess. At least it’s primary strength is the retainment of our beloved characters’ innocent charm.Hey, at least we have that 2011 Pooh movie to go back to. It's a perfect use of an hour.Rating: 3/5 | 62%Super Scene: Christopher Robin V. Heffalump