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'A Christmas Carol' is coal disguised as gold
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WALT DISNEY PICTURES
In his new motion picture, Robert Zemeckis, the filmmaker who created one of the greatest holiday movies of all time, reduces one of Charles Dickens's classic stories to a mere synopsis.
Walt Disney Pictures' "A Christmas Carol" may be even more visually stunning than Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Polar Express" - in which Zemeckis also utilized the motion-capture animation technique - but it does not even approach that film's sheer perfection. In fact, it may be one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
Jim Carrey stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in this version of “A Christmas Carol.” Separating himself from his nephew (Colin Firth) and faithful clerk (Gary Oldman), Scrooge resigns himself to a grave Christmas. Of course, when the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come (all also portrayed by Carrey) take him on an eye-opening journey, Scrooge must open his heart to undo years of humbug.
"A Christmas Carol" never takes the audience below the surface of Dickens's story. Instead, moviegoers are expected to find satisfaction in the belief that Scrooge is all humbug and no merry simply because... well, because. So much for the effectiveness of the Ghost of Christmas Past. And although Scrooge exhibits signs of merriment at different stages of his journey, his attitude only changes at the last minute rather than over time.
In other words, Zemeckis skips the good parts - you know, the ones that would have given the movie a three-dimensional story and three-dimensional characters instead of just a three-dimensional appearance. "A Christmas Carol" is being exhibited in 3D in select auditoriums equipped with digital projectors. That certainly makes a difference but that only takes it so far.
But the animation and 3D effects do deserve explosive recognition. This is hands-down the most impressive thing I have ever seen on the big screen to date. At times, it is easy to forget "A Christmas Carol" is animated. And if seen in 3D, it looks as though snow is actually showering the auditorium. There is no shortage of surprises to be had throughout this product, which Disney could have marketed as an extension of its theme parks.
On a related side note, despite being a holiday film and an animated one at that, "A Christmas Carol" is simply not appropriate for young children. The very first frame of the movie is a shot of a man's corpse. What follows is a realistic and oftentimes frantic thrill ride featuring spirits from beyond - a potentially frightening experience for little ones.
Quite frankly, crying kids tend to ruin the engrossing cinematic environment - all the more reason to make fewer family-friendly films in 3D. But that is an argument for another day.
As for "A Christmas Carol," Zemeckis created one exciting roller coaster. It is just too bad he did not make a movie, too.
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