★★★★
When Smeerensburg's new postman, Jesper, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old feud and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions.
Classification: PG
Considering the current state of modern animation, Klaus feels like a miracle not just because of its heartwarming story celebrating the origins of Santa Claus but in its unique and classic visual style. Harkening back to the two-dimensional animation stylings of hand-drawn characters and environments, this commitment gives Sergio Pablos' film this incredible feeling of a storybook come to life. Each frame bursting with beauty and charisma from the battle-worn, fog ridden town of Smeerensburg complete with pikes and axes protruding from every house to the serene snowy mountains where the lone Klaus resides guided by the celestial winter winds. Klaus uses these techniques to give itself a timeless quality as while the execution of the story may bear similarities to early 2000 animation comedies, it still has a strong emotional punch that will leave audiences dazzled.
Creating a character dynamic similar to The Emperor's New Groove and Ice Age revolves around the unlikely friendship between the selfish Jesper and the reclusive Klaus. Jesper, a reluctant mailman exiled to the hostile island of Smeerensburg by his wealthy father to teach him a lesson must establish a postal service in a town crippled by a generational feud of violence and hatred. Disparaged and exhausted, it would seem fate brings Jesper to the secluded cabin of a woodsman, who sports a large white beard and has an affinity for making toys, Mister Klaus. Jesper hatches a scheme to have the children of Smeerensburg write letters to Mister Klaus and receive a toy and piece by piece the legend that enraptures children across the world is born. Jesper and Klaus are a classic odd-couple pairing that clashes over their different personalities but still bring out the best in each other with Jason Schwartzman's neurotic energy in his performance as Jesper contrasting well against J.K Simmons' more stoic presence as Klaus. It feels similar both in personality and visual style to the Kuzco and Pacha characters from The Emperor's New Groove.
More traditional in its storytelling and comedy, however, Klaus will have its audiences grinning wide in the cleverness of its integration of the Santa Claus legend. Not spoiling itself to early, Pablos' establishes all of his new elements extremely well and gets everyone invested in Smeerensburg's history and Jesper's story before the first hint of toys and reindeer. When the enigmatic toymaker is finally introduced, the story organically builds the new legend, each recognisable tidbit and detail such as the origin of the naughty list or Klaus' first flight has that grin growing wider. The overall story and antagonists can be predictable especially in how the conflicting families begin to turn against Jesper, as he and Klaus become a catalyst for a new wave of kindness into the town but it all connects to the central theme of compassion.
"A true selfless act always sparks another" is the philosophy to Klaus and it shows the effectiveness of that statement in the character development of Jesper. Rather than having it be about a Santa Claus character who transforms into the figure, the Mister Klaus character retains gravitas and magic about him and it becomes more about how this philosophy inspires those around him. Jesper and the citizens of Smeerensburg become better people but Pablos' script explores the idea the morality of their intentions, Jesper has an ulterior motive he conceals from Klaus and the children seek the wonderful toys. However, the film looks at the inadvertent consequences of how kindness can spread from the subplot concerning Jesper's love interest Alva. A bitter school teacher who becomes impassioned when local children abandon the feud and wish to learn how to read and write so they too can send letters to Mister Klaus. The parents of the children as well learn the benefits of being kind, the island of Smeerensburg bears similarities to the vicious town of Yharnham from Bloodborne with its victorian era designs of brutal characters brandishing pitchforks and shotguns. So the adults aren't the friendliest bunch but despite resistance, when the children learn of the naughty list they begin to be kinder and go far beyond. It bleeds over to their parents yet the adults receive no gift from Klaus, they improve from the children's love and selflessness.
Klaus is an incredibly sweet and wonderfully entertaining Christmas film filled with great gifts of comedy and sentiment all wrapped in a perfect bow of beautiful spellbinding animation. A re-telling of an origin that's bolstered by impressive performances and art design that imbues magic into audiences of every age. Sergio Pablos and his entire team deliver a much-needed reminder that the animation techniques of yesterday are still a force to be reckoned with and delivers this message for a new generation. If one good deed can inspire another, then Klaus is the perfect beginning for a hopeful resurgence of 2D animation under the Netflix banner.
Director: #SergioPablos
Release Date: November 15th 2019
Available exclusively on Netflix
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
Comments