David wrote:
An incredibly charming film. Its gambit—revisiting the world of Winnie the Pooh in a gentle, tasteful, at times elegiac drama appealing to both adults and children while pandering to neither—is entirely successful, and I am so glad this film exists rather than one where, say, Pooh and co. are transported to present-day Hollywood for a series of frenzied action sequences and low-brow gags.
This.
This is Disney playing Disney.
The main content of the movie is the relationship between youth and adult age, and the absolute necessity for adults to keep their childness alive, to still be a child inside - the adult who does not do that is dull, boring, flat, adapted, "responsible". It's perhaps the most traditional and distinctive off all Disney morals and contents.
The film develops that perfectly, especially in the central part, where Christopher Robin's coldness and the distance towards Pooh is showed in such an instense and effective way that it made me cry more than once.
This is thanks to Ewan McGregor's performance, but also to how the characters and the situations were handled. Pooh is Pooh. Piglet is Piglet. Eeyore is Eeyore. Tigger is Tigger. In modern times, this is likely the best thing about the movie. And that was far from a given, especially after the latest pseudo-Disney abominations shown on screen (Pete's Dragon and The Jungle Book above all, both elegies to utilitarism that successfully managed to uproot all warmth and magic from the originals).
My personal grade is 9.5/10. The movie has some (minor) flaws, but they're overall forgivable - it just does very well what it was supposed to do. That's why those who didn't like it shouldn't have even thought about buying a ticket in the first place.