Dan's Movie Reviews: A Christmas Carol

Earlier today, I watched Nightmare on Elm Street for the first time, and I debated whether I should review that or A Christmas Carol (or both). I figured everyone already knows about Elm Street, so I chose the latter.

God knows how many movie adaptations of Charles Dickens’ classic novel there are. Apparently not enough because somebody made yet another one, this time using mocap, full 3D, and starring Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge. The promotion emphasizes that this is the story “like you’ve never seen it before!”, which is partially true. This is basically the same story except there’s more focus on the ghosts and how they impact Scrooge. When watching Scrooge look into his past, present, and future, you feel sympathy for him, especially during the “future” segment: Scrooge is dead and no one feels sad for him. Ouch.

As for the acting, Jim Carrey does a great job making Scrooge both detestable and likable, and Gary Oldman, who plays Bob Cratchit, is also really good. Carrey also does the voices for all three of the ghosts, and he’s even better then, especially as the Ghost of Christmas Present; he makes him sound very commanding and godlike.

One thing I like about this version of A Christmas Carol is that it leaves you with the Christmas spirit, but it doesn’t force it upon you like the others. And you feel genuinely happy when Scrooge embraces the Christmas spirit, instead of simply accepting it because you want the movie to end. Another good thing is that it is noticeably darker than most other versions. As I said before, this movie concentrates more on the ghosts; as a result, the movie ends up being a bit scary at points, especially in 3D. (I went to see it in 3D, and the 3D is beautiful.)

Still, it isn’t without its faults. The movie has a lot of the hit-and-miss jokes and gags that Disney has come to be known for, and they get old after a while. Although they don’t sound that bad, they actually load the overall quality by loads; if the jokes weren’t there, I would give this movie a higher rating.


OVERALL: It’s a decent movie that is sure to entertain families this Christmas season (although it’s near the middle of November). I say go check it out. What harm could it do?


RATING: 3.5 out of 5