Klaus Quick View Grade: B+
Source: IMDB
Klaus is the newest animated Christmas tale, about a privileged young man named Jesper (Jason Schwartzman), whom comes from a wealthy family that created the postal service. Jesper is sent away by his father, to a land up north, where he must post 6,000 letters from those that live in the town and if he doesn’t do so... Bye bye to his fortune. The land in which Jesper was relocated by his father, was a town filled with a rivalry as they do nothing but hate each other, fight each other, as there was barely any friendliness whatsoever. Plus no one in the town had desire to learn how to read nor write, as a letter hasn’t been delivered in quite sometime. How will Jesper succeed in this extremely difficult challenge?! I’m not going to lie: I’m extremely surprised this film is not in theaters, this would’ve made BANK! First of all it’s a Christmas movie made for kids and released during the Christmas season, do you know how much money those things make?! I mean that lousy Grinch movie from last year made 500 mill worldwide, Klaus could’ve easily make a good few hundred mill. Plus it’s wonderfully animated in 2-D animation, people would’ve went nuts over this with proper marketing. Klaus for me felt like I went in a time machine, where animation and creativity was at it’s best, I really enjoyed the crap out of this. The animation was pretty stunning, it feels completely different from the average boring 3-D animation we’ve been getting lately. It just has that retro feel to it, even including some extremely clever character design. The antagonists in this film looked extremely good, dark and grey with their faces looking completely evil and miserable. Jesper was pretty adorable, like this thing would sell nicely if it was an action figure on the shelves, Jesper does remind me of Ted from Curious George quite a bit. I love the character design of Klaus aka Santa Claus, he starts out looking like a lumberjack, but then develops as the holly jolly soul we all know. The design for the children start off miserable and even creepy looking, but then turned out to look really sweet, these kids also remind me of the children off from the Curious George movie too... Why is this movie resemble Curious George in some character design and sound?! The characters were honestly really enjoyable, as there is arcs for three characters. Our main character Jesper starts off as a spoiled privileged brat, whom has no desire to work. But when daddy cuts him off, he had to start becoming a responsible adult, as it became a challenge for him at first... But over the course of time with the help of Klaus, he was able to not only mature over time, but have a heart as well. It was genius thinking as to how Jesper was going to be able to post 6,000 letters, in a town where ignorance and hate ran the town. Klaus (J.K. Simmons) was a great character as well, despite him not being vocal majority of the film, you can understand the silence behind the man’s story. It was great seeing a once happy man, become a sad and lonely man, then becoming a man that has brought life back to him for the first time in many years. Alva (Rashida Jones) was a also a strong supporting character, with a nice arc too. Giving up on her dreams in teaching, in a land where ignorance and hate runs the town, as no one had desire to learn. But with the help of Jesper... Hope was brought into the once inspired school teacher, as she came back to life, to achieve her dreams. I do have some flaws for this film. I really enjoyed the story and the messages behind the story.... However the theme feels like we’ve heard this route before, causing the film to be predictable at times. Also I HATED the track this film uses, like that song is unbearable to listen to. You can also add, that the song really ruins the scene the film was going for, it just feels out of place and even annoying as you can’t understand why that music choice was put in the first place. Like I said before: Really enjoyed the story in this film. I thought the whole origin story of how Klaus became to be was pretty touching and even extremely cool. Like how he had a bunch of toys to begin with, how the sleigh started, how he had reindeer to guide his sleigh, even how Santa’s helpers were brought about... All that was pretty freaking cool man! Jesper’s story was maybe pretty basic, but was still pretty enjoyable to watch him grow as an adult. The film is entertaining as well and even funny, it’s definitely suitable for all ages so no one is going to feel bored while watching. I do enjoy the messages this film delivers against hate, being kind to one another, inspired to learn how to read and write properly... Brings out the jolly spirit in us all. 2019 has been quite an impressive year for animated films I must say, as Klaus certainly joins the party. Overall, Klaus is a pretty damn good film. I recommend this film, it’s on Netflix now, gather all the family around the fire, pop some corn, make some hot coco and enjoy a wonderful Christmas film. -Mitch Smietana