Starring: Jim Carrey, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Gary Oldman
Writer/Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writer/Director: Robert Zemeckis
I was sitting around the other day, doing my usual Jon stuff, when a thought occurred to me: "wow, they have not remade A Christmas Carol into a movie ENOUGH!" After I finished sniffing glue (that's the Jon stuff), I realized that my statement was not very accurate: it seems that every five minutes, someone pops out a new adaptation of this beloved Charles Dickens book, sometimes including muppets and even changing it around to be about a guy's dating past (alright alright alriiiiight). The latest in these remade "masterpieces" is Robert Zemeckis' "Disney's A Christmas Carol", starring Jim Carrey as the titular Scrooge, as well as the ghosts that visit him through his fateful night.
Somewhere along the way, Zemeckis decided that CGI was the way to go and has tried again and again to perfect his craft, undoubtedly screaming "CRAP!" when James Cameron showed everyone how eyeball melting Avatar is going to be. The Polar Express, his first try, featured lifeless looking people, animated corpses dancing around and singing about high temperature cocoa drinks. His second attempt, Beowulf, was a little better but was too busy being horrible to wow audiences. With this third film, the animation is leagues better. The people look more life-like, the locations are stunning, and even though I saw it in lowly 2D, it was still very impressive. Third time's the charm I guess.
As for the film itself, it does the story justice and gets the point across like many have before it. Jim Carrey does a great job as Scrooge, and it's always great to see him back on screen...even in a CGI way. The acting is very well-done for a supposed kid's film, but it's also heavy in 1800's England-speak, so at the same time, it's hard to take seriously after having that style of dialogue being made fun of over the years.
What threw me off though was how scary the movie was. I didn't expect to be jumpy during this film, but some moments were tense and must have been hell for 10 year olds to sit through. The ghost of Marley is especially scary and instead of just Scrooge freaking out, the audience freaks out with him. If you are expecting A Muppet Christmas Carol, do not bring your kids here. Much like Where the Wild Things Are, it is PG, but it is darker than normal crappy Planet 51 PG.
A Christmas Carol is enjoyable, if a bit freaky, and another decent adaptation in a long line of them. If you are wanting to celebrate Christmas super earlier than normal, check this out and give Jim Carrey your money. He needs it.
Somewhere along the way, Zemeckis decided that CGI was the way to go and has tried again and again to perfect his craft, undoubtedly screaming "CRAP!" when James Cameron showed everyone how eyeball melting Avatar is going to be. The Polar Express, his first try, featured lifeless looking people, animated corpses dancing around and singing about high temperature cocoa drinks. His second attempt, Beowulf, was a little better but was too busy being horrible to wow audiences. With this third film, the animation is leagues better. The people look more life-like, the locations are stunning, and even though I saw it in lowly 2D, it was still very impressive. Third time's the charm I guess.
As for the film itself, it does the story justice and gets the point across like many have before it. Jim Carrey does a great job as Scrooge, and it's always great to see him back on screen...even in a CGI way. The acting is very well-done for a supposed kid's film, but it's also heavy in 1800's England-speak, so at the same time, it's hard to take seriously after having that style of dialogue being made fun of over the years.
What threw me off though was how scary the movie was. I didn't expect to be jumpy during this film, but some moments were tense and must have been hell for 10 year olds to sit through. The ghost of Marley is especially scary and instead of just Scrooge freaking out, the audience freaks out with him. If you are expecting A Muppet Christmas Carol, do not bring your kids here. Much like Where the Wild Things Are, it is PG, but it is darker than normal crappy Planet 51 PG.
A Christmas Carol is enjoyable, if a bit freaky, and another decent adaptation in a long line of them. If you are wanting to celebrate Christmas super earlier than normal, check this out and give Jim Carrey your money. He needs it.