Christopher Robin review round-up: Winnie the Pooh spin-off is 'Honey sweet' but 'increasingly aggravating'

Christopher Robin was a much-awaited film on the movie line-up of 2018. Directed by Marc Forster and adapted from A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard’s book Winnie-the-Pooh, this live-action Disney film saw Ewan McGregor slip into the shoes of the titular character. Written by Alex Ross Perry and Allison Schroeder, the film features Hayley Atwell, as well as the voices of Jim Cummings and Brad Garrett.

The film released across United States on 3 August.

Variety called the movie “disenchanting”, claiming that “It won’t make you love the silly old(er) bear any less, but you can feel a tiny part of your childhood dying in the process.” It added that Toy Story fans, who were used to tearing up during the film could be rest assured that Christopher Robin would leave them dry-eyed.

The Hollywood Reporter gave below average reviews to the film saying that much like absence often created longing, “overabundance” may have created antipathy for the film. The narrative, which they termed as being ‘honey sweet’ was at the same time an “increasingly aggravating tale”. McGregor’s peformance also did not hold enough ground according to The Hollywood Reporter, who said “McGregor’s Christopher is by turns stressed, dour and frantic, not the most appealing of combinations.”

Forbes also thought Christopher Robin ’s treatment of Winnie the Pooh characters (including Christopher) was soulless and an “automated version of Steven Spielberg’s Hook.” The second half of the film was also criticised for its lack of proper narrative.

However, Collider did not have all negative things to say about the film. Giving it a rating of B, they term the film is simple and adorable. Although they admitted that Forster’s treatment of the beloved characters did not chart the exciting and instead played very safe.

Christopher Robin is slated for a 10 August release in India .