7

Thursday, August 9, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

In any other year, “Christopher 
Robin” might’ve swooped into 
theaters and stolen our hearts 
with its whimsy and all around 
pleasant spirit. After all, who 
doesn’t love Winnie the Pooh? No 
one, that’s who.
In increasingly divided times, 
the enduring awesomeness of 
the silly old bear might be the 
one thing we can still agree on. 
Unfortunately, in 2018, Pooh has 
to contend with the feature film 
vehicles of another eminently 
likeable bear, Paddington, whose 
latest release stands as one of the 
best of the year.
Clearly, Pooh Bear was going 
to have to up his game for 
“Christopher Robin,” his first 
foray into live-action. He’d have 
to be more wholesome, more 
aloof 
and 
more 
dangerously 
addicted to honey. He’d have to 
practice his adorable pratfalls 
into the long hours of the night. 
Even Heffalumps and Woozles 
would find themselves captivated 
by his endless good nature.
It was either that, or coast on 
doing what the character had 
always 
done 
without 
adding 
anything new in the way of story 
or 
style, 
completely 
banking 
on the public’s love of the 
inhabitants of Hundred Acre 
Woods.
You can take your guess which 
option the creative team chose.
“Christopher 
Robin” 
is 
a 
perfectly fine movie. It’s funny 
and cute in all the ways you’d 
expect: Pooh remains an absolute 

delight of a character and, if you 
grew up on Disney’s “Winnie the 
Pooh” movies, seeing characters 
like Piglet, Rabbit and Eeyore 
again feels like reuniting with 
old friends (for the short time 
they’re on screen, at least).
Unfortunately, the story all 
too often leaves those old friends 
behind to focus on scenes of the 
title character’s generic family 
drama and work struggles. Like 
last year’s “Goodbye Christopher 
Robin,” it settles for being just 
likeable when it could and should 
have been so much more.
Robin 
(Ewan 
McGregor, 
“Beauty and the Beast”) leaves 
behind the Hundred Acre Woods 
and decades later spends so much 
time working that he doesn’t 
have any leftover time for his 

wife, Evelyn (Hayley Atwell, 
“Marvel’s Agent Carter”), and 
young daughter. It’s only after his 
family leaves for a vacation in the 
countryside without him that he 
is reunited with Pooh Bear, who 
needs his help to find his missing 
friends and maybe, just maybe, 
teach Robin a lesson about what’s 
really important in life.
Given the title of the movie, the 
increased focus on Christopher 
Robin was unavoidable, but was 
Christopher Robin ever anyone’s 

favorite part of the Winnie-the-
Pooh movies? Is Christopher 
Robin the reason anyone will be 
seeing this movie?
In the animated Disney films, 
he was usually the audience 
proxy, the character put in the 
story so the kids watching at 
home could pretend that they 
were playing and learning lessons 
in the Hundred Acre Woods.
The script banks on childhood 
nostalgia in the same way as “Toy 
Story 3,” presuming many of 
those who grew up with Winnie-
the-Pooh have gone on to have 
lives and children of their own, 
so when they see Robin’s struggle 
in the trailers, they’ll relate and 
take their kids to see it.
“Toy Story 3” didn’t focus on 
Andy, though. The story wasn’t 
as much about him moving on 
from his old toys as it was his 
old toys moving on from him. 
The same lesson was imparted 
and we all still cried, but the 
focus remained on the parts we’d 
always loved.
“Christopher Robin” is like 
if “Toy Story 3” just followed 
Andy around as he prepared for 
college.
Having 
director 
Marc 
Forster (“World War Z”)behind 
the camera doesn’t help. The 
director’s resume speaks for 
itself, but he all too often trends 
toward muted colors and shallow 
focus close-ups that don’t mesh 
well visually with Pooh’s bright 
world, rendering it downright 
dull at times. Even childhood 
scenes 
meant 
to 
be 
happy 
dampen the charm of the film. 
The Hundred Acre Woods have 
never looked so bland.

‘Christopher Robin’ lacks 
the charm of its comfy roots

JEREMIAH VANDERHELM
Daily Arts Writer

FILM REVIEW

WALT DISNEY STUDIO MOTION PICTURES

“Christopher 

Robin”

Ann Arbor 20+ IMAX, 
Goodrich Quality 16

Walt Disney Studio 
Motion Pictures

ARTS

You reach above your head and 
pull the lap bar down tightly over 
your thighs, which have morphed 
into the concave shape of the hard 
seat that took some getting used to. 
Per usual, a park employee comes 
around to test your work by jostling 
the lap bar. Tight enough, she 
decides. You do your best to shove 
your neck out past the “padded” 
beams on either side of your head 
to see if your friend to your right is 
as excited as you are. He’s shoving 
his neck out too. Suddenly, but 
not surprisingly, the floor your 
feet were softly planted on drops 
and 
your 
legs 
dangle. Some guy 
on the platform 
presses a button, 
a weird hissing 
noise pierces your 
ears and you jolt 
forward. The roller coaster has 
begun; you’re now at the mercy of 
the powerful machine.
If 
you’ve 
ridden 
a 
roller 
coaster 
before, 
Travis 
Scott’s 
ASTROWORLD — an album title 
derived from a shuttered Houston 
amusement park of the same name 
— should be easy to understand. If 
you’re a scaredycatlame-o who’s 
never been on a roller coaster, well, 
that’s your loss, but ASTROWORLD 
is a near-perfect encapsualtion of 
that experience. What makes for 
a thrilling amusement park ride? 
Thrashing twists and turns, high 
highs that drop to low lows that 
shoot to higher highs, a surprising 
loop, 
behind-the-curtains 
mechanical perfection that makes 
for a comfortable and safe ride 
and a smooth ending that allows 
you to catch your breath and crave 
another round of the excitement 
you just experienced.
Scott’s 
third 
major 
label 

release boasts all of the above. 
The album’s first three tracks 
(“STARGAZING,” “CAROUSEL” 
and “SICKO MODE”) singe you 
with modern trap heat packed 
with perfectly placed beat switch-
ups that spin your head around 
without breaking your shoved-out 
neck. However, the pace changes 
suddenly but smoothly with “R.I.P. 
SCREW” and “STOP TRYING TO 
BE GOD,” two contemporary hip 
hop ballads soaked in beautiful 
bass. Then, just as a roller coaster 
shoots you from a low to a high 
in the blink of an eye, Scott dials 
the hype back up to a fever bitch 
with “NO BYSTANDERS,” a track 
featuring Scott’s most skilled 
rapping to date and a hook that 
will 
have 
you 
shouting “fuck the 
club up, bitch!” — 
something you’ve 
always wanted to 
say but never had 
the chance to.
Travis 
takes 
advantage 
of the trend of hiding artist 
features on a track list to make 
for chills-inducing moments of 
collaboration. Frank Ocean slides 
in to deliver a sultry hook on 
“CAROUSEL,” Drake drops catchy 
bars on “SICKO MODE,” Stevie 
Wonder and James Blake grace 
“STOP TRYING TO BE GOD” 
with harmonica and haunting 
vocals respectively, Tame Impala 
sprinkles 
psychedelia 
over 
“SKELETONS,” 
The 
Weeknd 
adds 
soprano 
sweetness 
to 
“WAKE UP,” John Mayer and 
Thundercat 
funkify 
the 
hazy 
“ASTROTHUNDER,” 21 Savage 
does 21 Savage on “NC-17” and 
Quavo and Takeoff enhance the 
southern-trap sound of “WHO? 
WHAT!” 

‘Astroworld’ hits 
with moxie, force

MIKE WATKINS
Daily Arts Writer

MUSIC REVIEW

EPIC RECORDS

ASTROWORLD

Travis Scott

Epic Records

Read more at MichiganDaily.
com

