A Christmas Carol: Movie Review

The timeless Charles Dickens classic, about goodwill towards men, returns in 3D this Christmas. Robert Zemeckis (Beowulf, Forrest Gump) directs this Christmas feast for the eyes.

The tale revolves around an old miser, “Ebenezer Scrooge” who resides in Victorian England. He never parts with his earnings whilst those around him are suffering in the poverty stricken London streets. He is a reclusive bitter old man who never socializes or ventures out into the world he finds “pathetic and worthless”.

One chilly Christmas eve he is visited by three ghosts; one baring visions from his past, one with visions of his present and of course one foretelling his future. By doing this they help him recognize the error of his ways and thus help him to redeem his humanity and kindness towards his fellow beings, and realize that “giving is better than receiving”.

“Scrooge McDuck”(“Mickey’s Christmas Carol”), Michael Caine (“A Muppets Christmas Carol”) and Albert Finney (“Scrooge”) have all taken on this role, not forgetting the hilarious modern twist Bill Murray did on “Scrooged”. It’s obvious that every year around the festive season someone will attempt making this film come to life. This time Jim Carrey takes on the role of “Ebenezer” and boy does he ever!

This part was made for him, although a bit like his part in “Lemony Snicket’s” where he plays yet another lanky-old-spindly man to a tee. Jim is known for being highly animated as it is, so throw him into a huge animated production that requires real life motion capture and you have a winning formula. He not only plays the role of “Scrooge” but of all the specters and some other little bit parts as well.

Gary Oldman also takes on a few roles as “Bob Cratchit”, “Marley” and “Tiny Tim”. Colin Firth plays “Fred” -the nephew of the old miser. The simply exceptional Jim however out shadows these two veterans.

The animation is outstanding and Zemeckis who brought us the brilliantly animated “The Polar Express” and “Beowulf” out does himself once again. The 3D is fun and breaks borders while the attention to detail is exquisite.

Every hair, wrinkle and pore can be seen. Like his recent films, this too is a holiday release but be warned, some scenes may frighten younger viewers and are intensified by the 3D experience thus the 10’ age restriction.

The film is Charles Dickens through and through so be prepared for Victorian England dialogue, Dickens style. The film has a running time of 96 min, but in some cases I was looking at my watch as it felt as if we were trapped in the snow covered London streets for two hours.

Overall, it’s well made and will be a huge success. It gives us a taste of how far technology has come since “Kermit the Frog” battled Scrooge. Sometimes a light and fluffy Christmas tale is in order but this is far from a Hannah Montana Christmas Wonderland.

Rating: ***/5
Running time: 96 min

Review by
David Pretorius
On Screen