Klaus (2019) Review

Jesper is spoilt by his father and he is sent to Smeerensburg as the new postman, a place that has an on going feud which divides the people. The children were always going to be easier to change and an act of kindness will change everything for everyone involved.

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Take away from his over privileged life Jesper is about to learn more about the world and himself than he could ever imagine. A true amazing Christmas story that is a joy to watch for so many different reasons. The first being the truly outstanding animation which really is visually stunning throughout just showing that that this old school hand drawn style still more than has a place in film. The second being the redemption of the lead character, essential in a Christmas film. The third would be the Santa link and showing that letters can really help people believe in something.

Working into an origin story of Santa and how Klaus a very skilled woodsman becomes something very different and the birth of Santa Claus. I can therefore really see this becoming a Christmas much watch and classic over the years. Just showing that Netflix mean business with a lasting Christmas message and not just going for the cheesy side to rival Hallmark.

The joy of the film comes as the children learn that they can have so much more in life than they had. In school they didn’t want to learn and the teacher was not engaged either. But when a little bit of hope comes thanks to Jesper in the form of toys after writing a letter they suddenly become interested. This leads to Alva doing so much more and loving her job working with them. The thing with Jesper was that to begin with he was just trying to get to his target of letters to get back home, something that changes when he realises the difference he has made and what is happening in the town.

The voice casting was perfect which always is a total bonus now when it comes to animation. We have Oscar winner J.K. Simmons as Klaus, Jason Schwartzman as Jesper along with Joan Cusack as Mrs Krum. All of this really does add to the magic of the film as it all fits together in the best possible way imaginable. Capturing all the different types of magic possible with the gorgeous animation, I feel as though that needs to be mentioned as much as possible as we just don’t get many films like this one anymore.

Having an origin story of Santa is certainly an inspired idea something we haven’t really seen which is surprising but thankfully we now have this beautiful film to film that gap and give another edge to Christmas films viewing. I am sure this is going to be a huge hit for Netflix not just this christmas but for many years to come!