Category Archives: Home Entertainment

(Rating: U, 95 mins) Written by Zen Terrelonge

Starring – James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy.

Who needs Santa? Arthur is coming to town!

The film answers one of the world’s best kept secrets; just how does Santa Claus (Broadbent) deliver two billion presents around the globe in one night?

Thousands of elves and an operation led by his militant son, Steve (Laurie), that’s how.

The classic delivery method of reindeer and a sleigh has been scrapped in favour of the S1, an airship of enormous proportions, capable of reaching speeds of 500,000 miles per hour and 80-something times the speed of sound.

Oh, and it also has a camouflage feature, which allows it to blend in with the night sky and avoid nosy tots that want to sneak a peek of St. Nick in action.

Bumbling Santa’s other (and more likeable) son is Arthur (McAvoy) and in his eyes, his papa is is the most amazing man in the world, despite the fact they have an above and beyond awkward relationship with nil communication.

For Arthur everyday is Christmas and he loves it more than anything, except maybe Santa, but to the elves and Steve, Arthur is a source of annoyance and comic relief.

During the big night itself, Santa eats the occasional mince pie, sleeps and plants the odd gift but it’s the elves that are the key instrument. The pointy-eared little helpers flip, slide and scramble through households to plant presents, drain milk, and crunch carrots at a ridiculous pace to give off the essence that Santa and his reindeer have visited.

With another Christmas mission successfully accomplished, everyone celebrates a job well done back at the North Pole. That’s until an elf discovers a single present hasn’t been delivered, which causes for much debate among the Claus family.

Arthur and Grandsanta (Nighy) take it upon themselves to deliver the neglected present in order to make sure the child doesn’t go without on Christmas morning, but with the S1 out of bounds by Steve’s decree, the duo are forced to find other means of transport…

Nighy is on top form as sooty-lunged Grandsanta, doing grouchy in a way only he can. The world he remembers was a very different one to the health and safety-obsessed 21st century, and he is only too keen to remind everyone of that.

Aardman flexes its muscles to show it still has a lot to offer with Arthur Christmas, and provides some fantastic, festive, family fun.

The only thing kids will probably yearn for is a Justin Bieber cameo to complement his appearance on the soundtrack, but maybe in Arthur Christmas 2…

8/10

Arthur Christmas is on DVD and Blu-ray now.