A CHRISTMAS CAROL *3D* (B)
I was not able to check out The Blind Side a few weeks back when I wanted to because the person (Brian!!) with the information about movie times was 20 minutes off in his reading of when the movie started, so we saw A Christmas Carol instead.
The 3D digital Disney retelling of the classic Christmas story we have all heard or watched 100 times before was a masterpiece of pictures and sound. The wonder of digital effects used by Director/Writer Robert Zemeckis created a unique interpretation of the Charles Dickens holiday tale. The camera zooms to any height or depth, through any piece of setting in the story, and even unveils character emotions in the story. There is not limit to what you can do with computer graphics, and Zemeckis takes that to his production.
The story of course surrounds old crabby Mr. Scrooge. In this telling of A Christmas Carol, the joy stricken Christmas hater Scrooge is voiced very well by Jim Carrey. Scrooge's emotions really came out in Carrey's voice. Carrey did the voices of some of the ghosts as well, so his involvement in this project was pretty heavy. Another Hollywood A-lister in Gary Oldman voiced Bob Cratchit and a few other characters as well.
The night of Christmas Eve Scrooge experiences is fascinating to see as the different ghosts take him here and there. This movie was creepy even to me at times. I cannot really imagine enjoying this as a young child. Come on Disney (kidding)! I thought this was a bold project from both Disney and Zemeckis by taking this tale and not doctoring it to cater to children but creating a dark version to be viewed and enjoyed by older audiences. The scariest and best parts by far featured the Ghost of Christmas Future. The ghost's presence on screen is chilling to the bone. The ghost looms in the shadows and creates an element of real terror for what is to come.
Overall, this is the best telling of A Christmas Carol I have ever seen. The visuals are superb (especially when the Ghost of Christmas Present flies Scrooge over the landscape like Superman), the music is fitting, and the cast of voices helps spell out the tale. Robert Zemeckis worked hard to give this film a unique feel, and it is darker than any other telling of this classic story. Unfortunately, I have heard or seen this story a million times and I do not think I need to watch it over and over (unless it was in 3D again). I would definitely see this movie again, but that's probably enough.
Seen it? Any thoughts?
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