The Film Buzz Official Review
A Christmas Carol is an animated retelling of the classic Charles Dickens novel, directed by Robert Zemeckis who brought us the earlier Forrest Gump (1994), What Lies Beneath (2000)and Cast Away (2000). Since then he ventured into directing animated films only – namely The Polar Express (2004), Beowulf (2007) and this year’s holiday magic film – A Christmas Carol.
This is not just an animation film, but a 3D adaptation of the much-loved Charles Dickens classic and uses motion capture technology (which was previously used in Beowulf) which is the process of recording movement and translating it onto a digital model to create digitally animated characters, hence why the characters look so much like the actors who participated in this film.
The Plot
Set in Victorian era England, a miserable old man Ebenezer Scrooge absolutely detests Christmas, merry tidings and the holiday season in general. On Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come, and is whisked away on an eye-opening journey revealing what Scrooge is reluctant to face – will he end up with a miserable ending or be able to open his heart to undo years of ill fate before it’s too late?
Jim Carrey plays a major role in this film, or should we say a multitude of roles, because not only is he the main character Ebenezer Scrooge but he is also all three of the ghosts that haunt Scrooge. The film also stars Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Cary Elwes and Robin Wright Penn.
The Thoughts
The world premiere of this film in London coincided with the switching on of the Oxford Street and Regent Street Christmas lights – which also have ‘A Christmas Carol’ theme to it. However I do feel that this film has been released rather early for Christmas – watching it so early in mid-November didn’t quite induce the Christmas-cosy feeling that it should have. Having said that, it was my first IMAX 3D experience and I have to say it was the most visually stunning cinematic experiences ever. Unrivalled motion picture technology and surround sound system full stop, anyone who loves the cinema needs to go to the IMAX if you haven’t already and experience it for yourself.
So onto the film itself. The film doesn’t boast best efforts in paying tribute to the Charles Dicken’s classic and I almost got bored as Scrooge was dragged through his agonising moral self-reflection, until the ghost did something scary and uncalled for that jolted my senses in the wrong way. Not to mention the ghosts constantly whisking Scrooge off into the night with many long falls from high and low places – kind of like a rollercoaster ride which combined with the 3D graphics isn’t so bad if you’re into that kind of thing. The first half of the film opened quite well but ran out of steam pretty quickly when things got repetitive but the last half of the film redeemed itself a little bit when the true spirit of Christmas was realised and portrayed in a mediocre fashion.
Overall, I think it was unnecessarily scary for kids, the characters never really connected emotionally with the audience and the film didn’t have enough of the heart-warming and jolly factors which needless to say is essential during the holiday season.
The Film Buzz Review Rating: 6/10
Release Date: 4 November 2009
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writer’s: Charles Dickens (novel), Robert Zemeckis (screenplay)
Links: IMDB, Official Site, Rotten Tomatoes
Saw this a few weeks back enjoyed it as it was a good time pass then, but to me the Muppet Christmas carol still remains the best version of A Christmas Carol in my heart.