From the
above
summary, it
probably sounds
like Steve is the
villain of the movie.
He puts the safety of
his ship over the
happiness of a child and
literally treats children
like numbers on a spreadsheet
while calling them by an ID number
over their actual names. But he's not,
in fact, there isn't a villain in this
movie. Steve, Santa, Arthur's grandfather
(Grand-Santa), and even Arthur himself are
just flawed people who feel underappreciated
or fear the world is leaving them behind, which
forms the main conflict in the film, a battle of
ideologies over who is performing this tradition
correctly.
Steve is actually a reasonably sympathetic figure who
should have inherited his father's title a long time ago. His
father is really only Santa in name only at this point, so much
so that he has been reduced to delivering one present a city while
the elves and Steve do all the work preparing all year round. But
Santa stubbornly holds on to the title and blames Steve for anything
that goes wrong. It's hard not to pity Steve as he does all the work, while
his father gets all the recognition.
The current Santa, on the other hand, is just an older man who's struggling to
let go of a job he loves. He dedicated his entire life to the role. He is unable to
accept that his glory days are behind him and in constant fear that all he has done
in life will be forgotten without the safety of his title. Santa is continuously out of
his depth whenever he tries to take action by himself and lashes out at Steve, who does
his job better than he does.
Steve's introduction of technology into the Santa operation also puts him at odds with his grandfather, who is deeply invested in Christmas traditions. Grand-Santa wants to show off the value of his way of being Santa back when they used to use the traditional sleigh and reindeer. Ultimately the problem isn't how they deliver presents or how good they are at doing it, but why they deliver gifts in the first place. It's a surprisingly multifaceted, relatable, and heartwarming interpretation of Santa and the ease we as humans lose sight of the meaning behind tradition.
Enter Arthur, who gets caught up in this intergenerational struggle over a title when all he wants to do is make sure a kid doesn't feel left out. Arthur doesn't care how the gift gets there and pushes himself to overcome his timid nature to deliver the gift himself. But even Arthur is not infallible as his adventure puts him through a crisis of faith that causes him to be disillusioned with Santa and everyone who's worn that title. But the way he ends up responding to that crisis is incredibly heartwarming and rekindles his determination to the point that it forces the rest of his family to reconsider their failings and what it means to be Santa. Ultimately Arthur Christmas spins a compelling tale of flawed humans who reignite their love of the holiday in a compelling, creative, action-packed package, which should go on everyone's yearly rotations come December.
Levitt Lin