My Movie Review on Klaus · 12:11am Dec 21st, 2020

Merry Christmas, my friends.

This is your jolly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for the 6th installment of my "Christmas Craze", I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Klaus".

Here's the rundown of this tale:

When Jesper Johansson, the lazy, spoiled son of the Royal Postmaster General, distinguishes himself as the postal academy's worst student, his father decides to assign him as the postman of a distant town called Smeerensburg. And as if that isn't enough, Jesper is tasked with delivering 6,000 letters from Smeerensburg within a year, otherwise he'd be cut off from his family's wealth and life.

However, upon arriving in Smeerensburg, Jesper discovers that delivering letters in that very town would be impossible because of how disgruntled and hostile its residents are. This ultimately gives Jesper little hope of mailing a letter at all. That is, until he meets a reclusive woodsman in the forest named Klaus, who has a wonderful knack for making toys.

I remember seeing this movie around last year following its release on Netflix, really. I considered doing a review of it at the time, although I later decided that the film was something I needed to see more than once in order to have clearer thoughts on what I think of it. So, I saved reviewing it for this year instead.

After watching the film for the second time in my life, I'm proud to say that "Klaus" truly is a treasure to behold. In more ways than one too!

For instance, the direction by Sergio Pablos and Carlos Martino Lopez, the story by Pablos, and the screenplay by him, Jim Mahoney, and Zach Lewis, were fantastic!

When it came to directing his first animated feature, as well as creating a movie that's unique and fresh, Pablos clearly didn't mess around. I hardly recall another movie having a concept like this one or taking an approach to the lore of Santa Claus like this movie did, and it hardly made fun of Santa Claus either. Among other things, the film wasn't without its genuinely witty and humorous moments. Every gag was executed with outstanding flavor and innocence, and there was a brilliant sense of creative inspiration behind the comedy too. In addition, the film wasn't without heart and emotional depth, and its morals about kindness and selflessness were deeply meaningful ones to live by.

The animation was astonishing, if I may add. Not only did Pablos make a bold move in using hand-drawn animation instead of computer animation, but he successfully showed that the style can evolve and grow in more ways than one. I particularly enjoyed how Pablos gave the film a storybook kind of look while adding a greater depth to it, as it made me think that it could easily go toe-to-toe with computer animation in general.

The music by Alfonso Gonzalez Aguilar was likewise magnificent. As a very likely less than well-known composer, I believe that this movie provided the perfect break he needed and showcased that he truly has a gift for creating music. Every melody he made matched perfectly with the film's humorous spirit and emotionalism in a way that was so groundbreaking, and the song "Invisible" was quite a treat.

Finally, the performances of the cast, casting, characters, and character development were outstanding. Every performer involved portrayed their characters with powerful emotion and personality, and they weren't afraid of adding a sense of humor and wit to their characters either. Plus, whatever pieces of dialogue the performers were given, they projected with wonderful flavor. The characters themselves had an innocent quality that made them deeply irresistible, and they all developed in more ways than I expected and had a sense of something very human.

In conclusion, "Klaus" is a Christmas treat that's absolutely worth opening. It has all the hallmarks to be a holiday classic, is one of the most unique animated films in years, and is one of Netflix's best movies.

So, I rate "Klaus" five out of five stars.