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Bookmark this pageA Christmas Carol (2009)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Synopsis
Director Robert Zemeckis uses the motion-capture techniques developed in his previous film, 'Beowulf', to tell re-spin Charles Dickens's Christmas classic with an all-star voice cast.
Movie review
From Time Out London
The third ‘performance capture’ animation from writer-director Robert Zemeckis – following ‘The Polar Express’ and ‘Beowulf’ – takes Dickens’s cautionary and sentimental 1840s novella and delivers a visually arresting but surprisingly ghoulish and family-unfriendly ghost ride.Not unlike the latest ‘Harry Potter’, it opens with a fantastic, technically superb aerial swoop over the teeming streets of London but, from there on, seems uncomfortable on the ground. To an extent, this ‘Christmas Carol’ is a case of style – and stylisation – overwhelming substance. The technology’s developing competence in delivering texture and vertiginous line and scale deny any sense of intimacy in the film’s settings, from the oceanic swathes of planked floorboard that Scrooge paces in his lending-house, to the restlessly changing angles from which poor, trusting Bob Cratchit’s (Gary Oldman) festive table is viewed in his cold, humble dwelling.
Likewise, despite staying true to Dickens’s dialogue, the characterisations are opaque, as facial expressions and people’s eyes are often creepily indistinct. How can we judge, for instance, Jim Carrey’s acting when he has provided a database of performances in his six incarnations? He plays Ebenezer Scrooge as a lonely schoolboy, heedless young lover and elderly curmudgeon and is also the ghosts of past, present and future – which means that possible pathos and sympathy is trumped by the surreal and impersonal spectacle of endless metamorphoses. That said, cinematographer Robert Presley and the design team provide many instances of graphical triumph, influenced by silent cinema, the spirit of Tim Burton and – in Scrooge’s moment of torment in the dockside murk and mist – David Lean. What the film suffers from is a want of common comfort, despite its nominally redemptive, happy ending.
Author: Wally Hammond
Time Out London Issue 2046: 5-11 November, 2009
User reviews of this film
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- Bluewaterk said...
- Posted on Jan 23 2010 05:37 My teenage boys and I went and saw this film. They were just part of A Christmas Carol drama play presentation and can say most of the lines from the book by memory. We all loved it. Regardless of what the critics say, it was a unique and graphically beautiful retelling of a beloved tale with many deeply moving metaphors I have never seen in any other adaption. (I own most of them) For instance, what adaption has ever showed us what ignorance and want are? This one does...they develop and mature right before your eyes. We talked for a long time about the meaning of all the interesting graphic interpretations and twists they put into the movie. I think this stuff went right over the critic's heads. If you are a deep thinker or a philosopher you will enjoy this movie. It will be a favorite for our family for many years.
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- chanel said...
- Posted on Jan 02 2010 12:05 it is great film i have watched it and am going to see it again today
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- puffbother said...
- Posted on Dec 31 2009 22:28 Film was nice, a bit short, storyline could of had added to it a bit more depth, but none the less the effects were great and my 3 year old loved it
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- Andy and Laura! said...
- Posted on Dec 31 2009 20:01 IGNORE THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS!!! We saw this in 3D today and it was magnificent!! It was jumpy and dark during the Ghost scenes (under 10s be warned) and Jim Carrey (you wouldn't have known it was him in ALL his roles) was superb. We loved it, and its one of the most faithful versions I've seen (apart from when he goes midget!!). Would see it again if VUE wasn't such a rip off!!! Fantastic. A Christmas treat!
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- millie said...
- Posted on Dec 31 2009 10:39 this movie is very good but under 10 year olds should not go to see it
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- NNM said...
- Posted on Dec 29 2009 18:03 Brilliant film true to the original story by Dickens - took my students who compared it with the text and other versions and they all thought it the closest to the text and definitely had the wow factor! Outstanding!
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- charlie said...
- Posted on Dec 23 2009 08:22 i haven't seen it yet so im kinda thinking if i shouldgo and see alvin and the chipmunks instead . with these coments i probably will go and see alvin and the chipmunks 2 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
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- Ty said...
- Posted on Dec 23 2009 01:37 waste of time- not all worth the penny paid! I blackberried through most of it..
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- SLI said...
- Posted on Dec 22 2009 23:20 I could not stand this movie. It was tacky, and definatly not for kids. I actually dont know of any age that would like it. I thought the whole thing was way crazy, and not ever worth seeing again.
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- Thomas Noctor said...
- Posted on Dec 20 2009 04:17 I agree this is a very dark tale, the very first ghost encounter is simular to a scene in Paranormal Activity! But I would recommemd the Dvd get a 12 cert at the very least! Good effects, but as a 26 year old man I feel sorry for the mis lead parents and kids!
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- Julie said...
- Posted on Dec 19 2009 22:22 I took my 11 year old and 7 year old to see what I thought would be a Disney classic . They came out really upset by the images of the spirits . They were frighteningly graphic. More like a horror movie than a Christmas film. Avoid it !!!'
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- Cappybear said...
- Posted on Dec 18 2009 09:58 My wife and I agree with Liv that the film isn't really suitable for young children, but then A Christmas Carol is not really a cheery tale, in spite of the happy ending - for Scrooge. An stimulating experience, nevertheless, well worth seeing in 3-D, and I thought that Jim Carrey showed commendable restraint.
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- Liv said...
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Posted on Dec 15 2009 00:03
Don't take young kids to see this! I had to leave early mine got so freaked out. What a nightmare! Definitely not family friendly. Terrifying characters and sequences for young or sensitive children.
What I did see of the film as well- I really didn't like. Jim Carey overkill. Special Effects overkill. Bizarrelyt... not a good Christmas film...
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- usman latif khawaja said...
- Posted on Dec 14 2009 06:25 much better than 'where the wild thing are' -and i really do not get who gave that 4 stars and this got 3 -crazy nuts -deserves more and the 3-d was well done for a change too
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- David F said...
- Posted on Dec 11 2009 21:55 A great family movie well worth seeing in 3D
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Cast & crew
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Gary Oldman, Jim Carrey, Robin Wright Penn, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins
Genre(s): Children's
Rated: PG
Duration: 96 mins
UK Release: Nov 6 2009
US Release: Nov 6 2009
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