Christopher Robin

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If, perhaps, you feel like being hit directly in the nostalgias, but certainly still want something new, you should tune into a Netlix show called 'Stranger Things'. However, if you feel like a simple taste of nostalgia to share with your family, 'Christopher Robin' certainly isn't a bad place to turn either.

We start things off in the Hundred Acre Wood, where young Christopher Robin (Orton O'Brien) is made to say goodbye to all of his best friends, as he must now head off to boarding school. In this moment, it's really altogether quite charming. If you're a fan of the old Disney animated shorts and films, you'll be pleased to know that the characters are all done justice - particularly Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. Anyway, the credits roll, and we end up seeing how Christopher Robin grows up in a sort of strict, no-nonsense environment.

As an adult, he finds himself in the typical role of father-working-too-hard-to-spend-time-with-family that we've seen in so many family movies before. However, this time around, Robin (now Ewan McGregor) has a run-in with his old childhood friend, Winnie the Pooh, who tries to help him rediscover the simple pleasures in life.

All in all, the movie is just sort of okay to watch as an adult. It brings back some nostalgia, and though it plays with the whole "fish out of water" plot for some of the film, it's actually very well balanced between scenes with the characters in the Hundred Acre Wood and scenes taking place in London, England. So it's not quite like watching something terrible like 'The Smurfs' or 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'. It's almost more just testing out how these characters would react to the real world.

Again, all of the charm of these original characters is there. The execution, as a whole, is closer to something like 'Paddington' or 'The Peanuts Movie', in that it seemingly sticks far more to the traditional characters, and doesn't try to "make them cool". These characters are pretty much how we remember them, through and through - and it definitely helps that Jim Cummings returns to voice Pooh and Tigger once again.

It may not be the best movie as far as overall story goes, as it's kinda something we've seen before and done better. For example 'Hook' contains an incredibly similar concept, and I'd still choose it any day of the week over this. However, this is still perfectly fine! It's sweet, it's cute, it's fun, and it's charming. If you're a new (or at least fairly new) parent, it's a nice, wholesome movie to bring the whole family to and enjoy. While it may not be anything truly awesome, it's still actually quite nice.

3/4

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