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Batman & Robin (1997)
Batman & Robin (1997)
1997 | Action, Sci-Fi
Oh boy. I couldn't even make it through the first thirty minutes of this film. It is easy to see why this film killed the careers of so many people that were involved in it. I'm surprised that it didn't end more. This is a poorly done film, if you can even call it a film. I'd call it Batman and Robin on Ice. It's not good. No. Just... No.
  
Jumanji (1995)
Jumanji (1995)
1995 | Action, Comedy, Family
1995 heavily dependant on CGI movie starring am (extremely young) Kirsten Dunst and the late Robin Williams, with Williams doing his usual man-child stichk as a young boy who got trapped in the mystical game Jumanji before being accidentally released nearer 30 years later, and who must finish the game to undo the events it has caused.

Surprised this got a PG rating; not even a PG-13 or 12A!
  
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
1989 | Drama
O Captain! My Captain!
Late 1950s set drama, with the late Robin Williams in full-on dramatic mode (as opposed to his usual comedy persona) as a schoolteacher with unconventional methods in a boys prep school who teaches his charges to 'seize the day'.

Later made a scapegoat when tragedy strikes, this is one of the earliest films I can remember where he, well, acted rather than clowned about!
  
Christopher Robin (2018)
Christopher Robin (2018)
2018 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Pooh and the gang (0 more)
Hayley Atwell is very underused (1 more)
Not really much of a kids movie
A good dose of warm fuzzy feelings
After recently reading a fair few uncomplimentary critic reviews for Christopher Robin, I wasn't sure what to expect from this. But, I was actually pleasantly surprised. And my wife absolutely loved it!

The movie begins with Christopher Robin as the child we all know from the stories. He's having a farewell tea party with Pooh and the gang in the hundred acre wood - a chance to see this latest incarnation of them all, beautifully rendered, different from what we're used to, but still very familiar. Christopher Robin is leaving them to head off to boarding school, so it's going to be a while before we see them all again.

From there we quickly skip through the next few chapters of Christopher's life, while the opening credits play. Boarding school, the death of his father, meeting his wife (Hayley Atwell) and heading off to fight in the war, before returning home. We pick up again with him while working for Winslow, a luggage company. His manager (a brilliant performance from Mark Gatiss) is putting pressure on him to come up with cost saving measures, in order to save the failing company, and demands that he work the whole weekend in order to come up with a solution. Christopher was due to go away with his family that weekend to his childhood home in Sussex, so must let them down once again in favour of work. Hayley Atwell is greatly underused in this movie, but plays the disappointed wife very well. Daughter Madeline doesn't think her dad ever was a child as all he wants her to do is work hard in order to go to boarding school, read her boring books instead of fun books and work instead of play. He's a far cry from the young Christopher Robin we know.

The whole movie is very dark and gloomy looking, with bright vibrant Disney colours rarely to be seen, even more so in this first part of the movie. Aside from some small comedy moments, this isn't really a kids movie at all.

When Pooh arrives in London, seeking out Christopher Robin having lost Tigger and his other friends, the tone of the movie immediately changes. The wonderful, soothing, familiar voice of Jim Cummings bringing this silly old bear to life as he tries to adjust to Lon-don life. There are some wonderfully funny moments, full of heart, even more so when the whole gang are finally reunited and all causing chaos in London.

While never quite reaching the dizzyingly high standard set recently by the amazing Paddington 2, Christopher Robin still manages to provide you with a warm fuzzy feeling inside and a very funny, enjoyable experience. And with a lesson in making sure your embrace your inner child thrown in too!