Largely thanks to James McAvoy's quite brilliant voicework and the accompanying animation of the awkward, naive and joyous title character, Arthur Christmas is an absolute delight from start to finish. It starts off at a blistering pace, and the story flits betweeen quite demented silliness and touching moments with confidence and spirit. Nods to other movies come thick and fast, including the wonderful visual conceit of Santa's latest sleigh resembling a cross between Star Trek's Enterprise and the ships from Independence Day. The 3D is used to convey a terrific sense of space and scale, and visually the film is frequently beautiful. It was interesting to note that adults in the audience were laughing more than the children, and this was probably largely owing to the fully-realised screenplay and the sheer pace of the story. Arthur Christmas is packed with ideas, inventively realised and hugely enjoyable.
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