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Of course, 30 years since the original, everything has to be bigger and zanier, and this new Arthur goes for broke. It begins with Arthur and Bitterman driving a Batmobile wildly through the city, getting chased by the cops and eventually crashing spectacularly before buying his way out of trouble. Other lavish additions to Arthur's already lascivious lifestyle include a bed with a magnet at the bottom that makes it float.

Much like the original, this movie is all about its lead, and Russell Brand has no problems carrying the film on his shoulders. While he was clearly typecast, Brand's Arthur is much softer and sweeter than his Aldous Snow, and he seems to be channeling Dudley Moore, even slightly affecting his voice to more closely mimic his predecessor. This Arthur, unlike the original's, is drunk all the time, which gets a bit tiresome, but Brand's boyish charm is easier to swallow than a shot of Maker's Mark. Of course Brand's best skill is his crack comic timing, which he utilizes perfectly; while Aldous Snow is a more interesting character than Arthur Bach, Brand might be even better here than he was in Get Him to the Greek.

Surprisingly, the remake focuses much more on the supporting characters and their relationship to Arthur, which is both one of the movie's best qualities and its biggest stumbling block. The relationship between Hobson and Arthur is much more of a focus here, and it gets a bit tiring to have the idea that Hobson is Arthur's true parental figure beaten into your skull the entire time. Mirren is great, of course, although she really doesn't hold a candle to John Gielgud, and while her rapport with Brand is delightful, it never adds much to the film. Bitterman is also much more developed, with the original character being barely more than an extra. I don't think I'd ever found Luis Guzman funny before this film, but I'll admit that he was utterly charming, and brought his own energy to a few scenes.

The most welcome development in the film is Susan, played by the always hilarious Jennifer Garner. Garner carried, pushed and pulled 13 Going on 30 from what could have been a terrible movie to being genuinely enjoyable, and here once again she shows off her comedic chops, which are as hot as she is. Unlike 1981's bland heiress, Garner's Susan is fiery and a bit insane, the only character who can really challenge Arthur in that department (although Gary Busey does his shtick, which never works in his moments on screen). She attacks Arthur like a whirlwind in more than one scene, and their back and forth is hilarious. She is also a fairly complex character with her own desires and needs; considering that most evil women in these kind of movies are flatter than cardboard, Garner's Susan is a welcome appearance.

But, sadly, all of this additional character development, and the focus on the plot and conflict of the story, makes the film drag in its second half. There is so much that needs to be done in service of the story that there is a lot of energy cost in covering all of the bases. While the first hour fires on all cylinders, this Arthur runs nearly two hours but feels even longer, using up most of the good will it earned from me with the great moments - comedic, romantic, and sentimental - in the early scenes.

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