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'Christopher Robin' takes the timeless characters of AA Milne and weaves a whole new story around them. Christopher Robin, played here by Ewan McGregor, is the boy who grew up, went to war, got a job and family, and then proceeded to almost lose them over his work. This is a strange tale to tell children, and I spent much of the movie baffled by who the writers had in mind when creating it (three are credited, which would explain why the narrative seems so muddled). The screenplay spends far too much time in the adult world and the pacing is slow to the point of dullness.
McGregor injects life into the performance but there isn't much to play with. The film only really has verve when the animated characters appear. The CGI effects and voiceover work is wonderful, and the animated characters are genuinely heartwarming to see on screen. The cinematography (Matthias Koenigswieser) is appropriately misty and dreamlike, transporting us to a Hundred Acre Wood that looks like the illustrations we are so familiar with. Pooh's wise words befit Milne's characterization, but alas they are too few and far between.
As long as Christopher Robin, Pooh and the gang are fighting imaginary creatures like the Heffelumps and Woozles, one feels invested; but when the director tries to get them to fight real human bosses, the metaphor really feels like it has been carried too far. The upshot of all this is that the film ends up being more childish than childlike. I would have loved for the makers to have us spend more time in the woods than in the real world. So unless you're a hardcore Pooh-lover, you should stay away from this one and wait for the Bear of Very Little Brain to get a more deserving outing at the movies.
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Language: English Runtime: 1h 44min Year of release: 2018 Streaming Platform: Disney+Hotstar
Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.
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