Christopher Robin review: That little black rain cloud has certainly gotten larger in this gloomy Winnie the Pooh movie

Our old friend Winnie the Pooh running into Christopher Robin in London.

 Christopher Robin (PG)

Directed by Marc Forster

Starring Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, Orton O'Brien, Mark Gatiss

Voices provided by Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh/Tigger), Brad Garrett (Eeyore), NIck Mohammed (Piglet), Peter Capaldi (Rabbit), Sophie Okonedo (Kanga), Sara Sheen (Roo), Toby Jones (Owl)
Caution: Some spoilers ahead!

I'll tell you one thing, I never expected to be so stressed out and frustrated watching a Winnie the Pooh movie. Seemingly everything that can possibly happen to keep this story from wrapping up swiftly and cleanly happened. There's even a moment in which Christopher Robin yells at Pooh informing him he is, indeed, a bear of very little brain. If you're looking for a comfortable, nostalgic jaunt into the Hundred Acre Wood this is not your movie.

As a boy, Christopher Robin (O'Brien) would enter a small opening in a tree to join his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. We all know the story at this point. The movie opens on a going-away party the animals are throwing for Christopher as he's heading off to boarding school. The movie doesn't waste time showing you Pooh, Piglet and the whole bunch. They are all suddenly on screen sitting at a table and at once appear to be both real and animated, as I expect a moving and talking stuffed animal would look. Their appearances reminded me of the look of the monsters in 2009's film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are. That is certainly a compliment.

The voices of Pooh and Tigger easily sound the most like the voices we've grown accustomed to. Jim Cummings played both characters in this film as well as 2011's animated movie Winnie the Pooh so he has these voices down. Brad Garret certainly has a natural Eeyore sound, but I couldn't help but think Eeyore was even more of a downer than usual in this overly moody movie.

Most of the Hundred Acre Wood gang (Owl is not pictured).

At the party, Christopher has one last conversation with Pooh letting him know he will never forget him and will make sure to come back and visit. Fast forward a couple decades and Christopher (McGregor) not only has seemingly forgotten about Pooh, but certainly doesn't seem to have any childlike joy and wonder in his body anymore. Christopher, years after returning from fighting in WW2, works for a company that sells luggage and travel cases. The company is looking to make cuts and Christopher is forced to find resources and employees to get rid of in order to cover the deficit. The sudden uptick in work disallows him from going to his childhood cabin for a vacation weekend with his wife Evelyn (Atwell) and daughter Madeline (Carmichael). This is disappointing to all of them especially Madeline who's summer before boarding school is coming to an end and she feels she never gets to see her father. These are certainly not old angles to take in a story like this and they can feel cliched if not done right.

Meanwhile, Pooh wakes up in his carved-out-tree home and wanders around the Hundred Acre Wood and can't seem to find anybody. He then decides to enter through Christopher Robin's tree in order to find him. The tree magically takes him to a small park near Christopher's house in London and Christopher just so happens to end up on the same bench in which Pooh decides to take a nap. Christopher immediately recognizes Pooh but it's certainly not a warm and cuddly meeting. Christopher eventually decides he has to get Pooh back to the Hundred Acre Wood by going to the cabin in Sussex, where his family is staying, and get Pooh back into the tree. The magical tree in the park has now closed up so they have to take the commute to Sussex via train. This is where the stress and heavy frustrations really begin. Christopher, who has work to do remember, is incredibly disgruntled and short with Pooh who is simply enjoying life and happy to be with his old friend again. He tries to help Pooh find the rest of the gang but in the search he gets mad at Pooh for incorrectly using a compass which gets them lost. He then berates the adorable, loving bear which forces a sad Pooh to leave him alone. Not cool, Christopher. Not cool.

The Robin family: Christopher (Ewan McGregor),
Madeline (Bronte Carmichael)and Evelyn (Hayley Atwell).

I was frustrated that Christopher had to be so angry with Pooh and even more frustrated that he didn't realize that he had the perfect opportunity to surprise his family in Sussex. He even sneaks by the window to point out his wife and daughter to Pooh rather than go inside to spend time with them after making the long trip. After finding Pooh and the gang he leaves to go back to London to work and again tries to sneak past the cabin though without being seen by his family. His daughter does, in fact, see him and instead of spend time with her he abruptly ends that and tells her and his wife he has to leave. Madeline eventually meets Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore who come out of the Wood to return important papers to Christopher. This encounter actually is pretty heartwarming, but I kept imagining a wonderful scene in which Christopher was able to introduce these lovable characters to his daughter. Of course in this dark and dingy Winnie the Pooh movie we weren't awarded such a beautiful moment.

The returning of the papers to Christopher before his big presentation is another series of speedbumps to hurdle and walls to scale. Eventually the story does come to a resolution though it is incredibly cheesy and isn't quite the ending I expected nor wanted. He eventually decides to embrace that inner-child and spend time in the Hundred Acre Wood with his family. It just felt like it took too much convincing for that conclusion to finally be reached.

There is some humorous moments throughout the movie mostly coming from Winnie who sees the world in a much more light-hearted and colorful way than Christopher does. Pooh asks Christopher why the train ticket clerk is in a cage and when on the train he simply says out loud what he sees outside the window. That scene is one of the funniest and most enjoyable in the movie. There's also some enjoyable moments that Pooh has with a red balloon which seems to pay a minor homage to the legendary short film.

It really was nice to see and hear Winnie the Pooh again and it was cool to see him and the Wood gang in live-action animation form. While it had its moments, this movie was simply far too gloomy for me to comfortably enjoy. Overall, it was too much like Eeyore and I would have rather the movie be warm and cuddly like Pooh Bear.