I really enjoyed this and Jess the cat proved to be the best part!
The cons.
First of all though, let's get the negatives out of the way - the voice of Pat was totally and utterly wrong, not sounding even a little bit like he is in the TV series. Point in fact, most of the accents that you'd expect - Alf, PC Selby, Mrs. Goggins - was grossly under-played or virtually non-existent in some cases. This was a big disappointment because without them Postman Pat loses a bit of it's quality and identity. The story, as I've read in other reviews, was a bit naff and unfitting - robots and talent contests wrapped up in a theme of identity? No, it just didn't work.
The pros.
The guest stars did an excellent job with their roles, especially David Tennant, who's character and voices provided some of the biggest laughs for me. That said though, you'd expect more participation from personalities like Rupert Grint and Ronan Keeting - their roles were simply too small to make any sort of difference to the plot and didn't seem to add that extra level of potential that they could have done. The tongue-in-cheek and 'parent' humour of self-referencing and parody to popular culture was very good indeed and gave it that 'British' quality by occasionally taking off shows and individuals who are established in the UK. I like how they've attempted to include aspects from the modern series, including the SDS and helicopters, etc., whilst openly admitting that the brand of Postman Pat has changed since it's creation but is still going for that English countryside simplicity feel.
The best parts for me - the brief cameo appearance of the Dalek and Lost in Space Robot were hilarious and had me rolling around in stitches.
Lastly, but certainly not least.... Jess the cat in the series was a great and funny additional. But in this, he's taken to a whole other level. Not only can he do acrobatics (wow!) but he's also the source of some of the best gags in the whole movie. Probably thanks to the CGI, in this his personality is much more defined and because he can present more visually he seems to be able to generate laughter so much more.
For each bad it has, Postman Pat The Movie has two goods. If you're expecting something directly related to the TV series or something which harks back to the classics, I fear you will be disappointed. But take it as it is and try and enjoy the laughs - you'll like it a whole lot more!
What's more, it's entertaining and simple enough for the kids to follow that their interest will be captured enough not to annoy you for an hour and half!
The cons.
First of all though, let's get the negatives out of the way - the voice of Pat was totally and utterly wrong, not sounding even a little bit like he is in the TV series. Point in fact, most of the accents that you'd expect - Alf, PC Selby, Mrs. Goggins - was grossly under-played or virtually non-existent in some cases. This was a big disappointment because without them Postman Pat loses a bit of it's quality and identity. The story, as I've read in other reviews, was a bit naff and unfitting - robots and talent contests wrapped up in a theme of identity? No, it just didn't work.
The pros.
The guest stars did an excellent job with their roles, especially David Tennant, who's character and voices provided some of the biggest laughs for me. That said though, you'd expect more participation from personalities like Rupert Grint and Ronan Keeting - their roles were simply too small to make any sort of difference to the plot and didn't seem to add that extra level of potential that they could have done. The tongue-in-cheek and 'parent' humour of self-referencing and parody to popular culture was very good indeed and gave it that 'British' quality by occasionally taking off shows and individuals who are established in the UK. I like how they've attempted to include aspects from the modern series, including the SDS and helicopters, etc., whilst openly admitting that the brand of Postman Pat has changed since it's creation but is still going for that English countryside simplicity feel.
The best parts for me - the brief cameo appearance of the Dalek and Lost in Space Robot were hilarious and had me rolling around in stitches.
Lastly, but certainly not least.... Jess the cat in the series was a great and funny additional. But in this, he's taken to a whole other level. Not only can he do acrobatics (wow!) but he's also the source of some of the best gags in the whole movie. Probably thanks to the CGI, in this his personality is much more defined and because he can present more visually he seems to be able to generate laughter so much more.
For each bad it has, Postman Pat The Movie has two goods. If you're expecting something directly related to the TV series or something which harks back to the classics, I fear you will be disappointed. But take it as it is and try and enjoy the laughs - you'll like it a whole lot more!
What's more, it's entertaining and simple enough for the kids to follow that their interest will be captured enough not to annoy you for an hour and half!