Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Marc Forster, Walt Disney Pictures, G 104 Minutes.
Although not scripted as a sequel to last year’s release of ‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’ there is a certain charm in seeing the characters created by A.A. Milne return in director Marc Forster’s delightful depiction of Disney’s ‘Christopher Robin’.
Now all grown-up, Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor –‘Mortdecai’) is working as an efficiency expert with the Wilson’s luggage company besides being a family man living with his wife Evelyn (Hayley Atwell –‘Ant-Man’) and young daughter Madeline (Bronte Carmichael –‘On Chesil Beach’).
Despite promising to take Evelyn and Madeline to the countryside for a planned break, Christopher must work all weekend on preparing a paper by Monday that would result in further efficiencies involving a 20% reduction in the workforce.
It is at the same time that Winnie the Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings) appears in the story after discovering that he cannot find any of his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood.
Quite perturbed, Pooh decides to seek out his childhood friend Christopher to obtain his help in finding Eeyore (Brad Garrett), Kanga (Sophie Okoneido), Owl (Toby Jones), Piglet (Nick Mohammed), Rabbit (Peter Capaldi), Roo (Sara Sheen) and Tigger (Jim Cummings). Through a magical door to the real world Pooh is reunited with Christopher who reluctantly agrees to return to the Wood knowing that he has a strict deadline to keep in finalising his paperwork.
Due to a series of misadventures the paperwork is lost in the process leaving it to Pooh and friends to help Christopher retrieve his work before Monday’s meeting where Wilson Snr. Is to consider Christopher’s recommendations.
Without doubt Forster’s family friendly film is certainly an enjoyable experience filled with adventure, comedy and drama in particular, the amusing antics of the charming computer-generated animals led by that lovable bear, not to mention their voice-over actors.
Apart from Pooh, one cannot overlook McGregor’s convincing performance as the pressured Christopher Robin (nor that of Carmichael as Madeline), especially those moving moments with his childhood friends in the Wood and later his wife and daughter.
Vic’s Verdict: 3 ½ Stars
