Movie Review: Christopher Robin

Movie Review: Christopher Robin                                                                                                    8-4-18

In this different take on the world-famous Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) grows up, marries a lovely wife, and has a daughter named Madeline (Bronte Carmichael). Robin now works for a luggage-producing company called Winslow Enterprises. One weekend, when Christopher gets overloaded with paperwork for an important presentation, Winnie the Pooh visits him through a magical door. Pooh is upset that he can't find his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, so Christopher reluctantly agrees to help him. Christopher discovers that they were not lost, but simply hiding from 'Heffalumps and Woozles'. When Christopher returns to London to show his work at Winslow, the Hundred Acre Woods residents discover that the papers were left behind, and now it's up to Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore, along with Madeline, to journey to London to deliver the right papers before Christopher Robin gets fired.

If Chip and Dale were Disney's answer to Tom and Jerry, then Christopher Robin is probably their answer for Paddington. For starters, the character designs stay true to Ernest Shepard's original illustrations.

As for the story, I feel that it's kind of similar to Enchanted; A character from a happy world ends up in the depressing real-world of New York City/London, and the character he/she meets is a workaholic father with family issues. Robert Phillips, the overworked lawyer in Enchanted whom Giselle slowly falls in love with, married a woman who happened to be a jerk, while Christopher Robin is having a difficult time trying to balance family and work.
In conclusion, while Christopher Robin may not be as good as the remakes of Cinderella, The Jungle Book, or Pete's Dragon, it's definitely better than A Wrinkle in Time. I found that film to be disappointing, underwhelming, and confusing.
I will review both Paddington films in November.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.