Elf the Musical: Critics give mixed reviews for 'overpriced' show

Critics have given a lukewarm reaction to Elf the Musical, the West End version of the hit 2003 comedy film.

Jesus Christ Superstar lead Ben Forster appears as Buddy the elf with former Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh as his love interest Jovie.

The production made headlines earlier this year when it was revealed to be the most expensive West End show, with top tickets at £240 each.

The Telegraph described the show as "magic for a steep price, external".

Critic Dominic Cavendish said: "This is bound to make a lot of kids very happy even if leaves a lot of parents very broke."

Although he said the production "feels generic", he had much praise for Forster - playing the role made famous by Will Ferrell on the big screen.

The musical - which first ran on Broadway - retells the story of a 30-year-old man who is brought up as one of Santa's elves, but travels to New York to meet his real father when he discovers he is human.

"He's no Ferrell, but this perfect specimen of arrested masculine development still twinkles cutely, brightly, sweetly," Cavendish said.

In his three-star review, The Stage's Mark Shenton said the show was an "amiable, good-natured seasonal show, external", but was an "overpriced Christmas spectacle".

He also praised Forster's performance, but added: "Other parts are a bit two-dimensional by comparison, but Kimberley Walsh as the improbably loveless love interest, Joe McGann as Elf's real-life father and Jessica Martin as his perky step-mother are enjoyably likeable."

The Daily Mail's Quentin Letts described the show as "reasonably entertaining, external", but "left me a little cold".

Meanwhile, What's On Stage criticised the production's "horribly bland plot, external", with "surprisingly forgettable songs".

But it added Forster was show's "saving grace", saying: "He delivers the jokes for the adults with a dead-pan innocence and he can certainly sing. But it's the comedy that he excels at here, and which will woo even the most bah humbug of audience members."

The Arts Desk was most scathing in its review, saying the musical was not worth the cost, external of its top priced ticket.

"It's calculatedly middle-of-the-road, a trait exacerbated by this uninspired British production, lacking the power and pizzazz that apparently made the Broadway version palatable," it said.

"It's both too simplistic and too long (a stodgy two and a half hours) to demand the attention of younger viewers, and, aside from a bluesy number featuring disillusioned store Santas and an animal rights gag, there's precious little for parents."

Elf runs at the Dominion Theatre until 2 January.