A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens's world famous novella has been retold and remade time and time again throughout the years. Famous actors have portrayed him such as George C. Scott, Patrick Stewart, and now Jim Carrey gets to add his name to the long list. This time however, this film has taken a new turn into the new world of CGI. So, once again, we get to be told the wonderful story that is, "Disney's A Christmas Carol."
First of all, if you don't know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge then I would highly recommend you going to the bookstore and buying a copy since it's one of the most famous Christmas stories of all time. But just to refresh your memory, "A Christmas Story" is a tale about a grouchy, greedy old man named Ebenezer Scrooge(Jim Carrey). Scrooge, after the loss of his business partner name Jacob Marley(Gary Oldman) works his counting house with no other thoughts in mind but money, greed, and more money. The only other man he has to work with is his underpaid clerk Bob Cratchit(also played by Gary Oldman) who Scrooge treats like filth. Scrooge hates just about everything in life but one of the things he hates most is Christmas. This hatred eventually comes back to haunt him(no pun intended) when he is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley. Jacob has been forced to carry around chains in the afterlife because of his greed and selfishness he had in his life on earth. Jacob tells Scrooge that a way to avoid this fate is to be haunted by three spirits in order to help him realize his faults and to embrace the spirit of Christmas.
Director Robert Zemeckis has been famous for his animation in which the actors actually act out their roles in CGI suits which allows the makers to create the CGI around them. This has been seen in past films like "The Polar Express" and "Beowulf". The same thing is seen in this film and the animation is astounding. First of all, Jim Carrey doesn't only play old Scrooge, but young Scrooge, and all three of the ghosts that haunt him. Garry Oldman also plays several parts that include Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit, and even Tiny Tim. This is one of the factors that attributes to the creativity of this kind of CGI. It is very interesting to watch these two actors play the different characters. The animation was beautiful , descriptive and wonderfully detailed.
Now most versions of "A Christmas Carol" aren't too dark or scary but that's not the case with this new film. This remake is much more dark and frightening then all the others and actually made me jump in couple scenes(most would call them cheap thrills). I was imagining a young six year old going to see this film. Sure the kid's parents would say its a fun Christmas story but if I was that young, I'd have nightmares for weeks. With all of this said this telling of "A Christmas Carol" is definitely not for the young ones. I was very surprised at the cheap thrills, scary content, and dark thematic elements that this film included.
Out of the several "Christmas Carol" renderings I've seen, it seemed to me like this one was most like the book in terms of what happened and the dialogue. Most of the script seemed like it was taken straight from the book and placed into the film from start to finish. Also, some of the ways that events happened in the film reminded me more of how the book described them. For example, the way the spirits were portrayed(preferably Jacob Marley and the ghost of Christmas past) seemed like a more accurate portrayal then what other films have tried to show(This also means that some of the traits/actions of the spirits are a little creepier then we've seen before). There were only a few scenes included in the movie that the writers took artistic license on. For example, to add a little action to the film, there was a chase sequence shown where Scrooge tries desperately to flee from the ghost of Christmas yet to come(the more demonic of the three) where we see zombie-like creatures rising from the ground trying to slow Scrooge down. While scenes like this one added a little excitement to the film, other scenes included pointless action that I could have done without.
"Disney's A Christmas Carol" is a delightful tale of a hard-hearted man who gets taught the lessons of repentance and humility and in the end it becomes a story of a wonderful transformation that is sure to warm the hearts of all movie goers. Robert Zemeckis has created a visual piece of art that makes the classic story feel more magical than it's predecessors and welcomes us warmly to the upcoming holiday season. Two and a half stars out of four.
"Disney's A Christmas Carol" has a running time of 95 minutes and is rated PG for scary sequences and images.