A Christmas Carol

[Beate]

Well I would have gone if I had won tickets!

[Beate]

Just seen Colin Firth interviewed on BBC1 after turning on the lights.

[EthanRunt]

Catching it at the IMAX tomorrow, too ill to see any films the last few days and drastically ache to see a film in a low lit room with a bunch of strangers, I hope Zemeckis delivers.

[TigerTom]

Saw this last night at a "Premiere" screening at the Odeon in Leicester courtesy of Morrisons

Was told we'd get a goodie bag - turned out to be a Morrisons re-usable bag with a bar of chocolate, a bag of humbugs and a bottle od water

The film was in 3D and overall was pretty good, the detail on scrooge was fantastic (hairs on the nose!) , but was let down by the lack of detail on some of the other characters, mainly the children, some seem to have no depth to their eyes.

The story line - Well it is "A Christmas Carol" so it follows the standard format!

My only gripe was Scrooge looked too much like Harold from Steptoe and Son, and Jim Carreys voice sounded like Owen Newitt (Roger Lloyd-Pack) from the Vicar of Dibley.

A few bits to make you jump though!

[EthanRunt]

Being in November I can't say I'm invested in a Christmas spirit just yet, then again I haven't been for about 5 years now, but I've enjoyed Zemeckis' mo-cap films so far, Polar Express was surprisingly wonderful, and Beowulf was well done, but they were both solidly 7/10, nothing amazing, but better than rubbish.

Despite 5000 Jim Carrey's and some atrocious English accents, especially from the children, who, as Tiger said, have limited detail, which is rather off putting with such extravagance given to Scrooge's face. The IMAX 3D gave an annoying ghosting effect from some parts, especially obvious when snow falls, but some scenes, the opening whizz through London for example, are breathtaking.

The storyline is the same, opening with Scrooge 7 years earlier looking over Marley's corpse, and the first two spirits are well done, although Carrey's Oirish and Brian Blessed voices are a little odd, but the final 25-30 minutes with the Christmas futures ghost, featuring an unnecessary horse and cart chase and some miniturising, is where the film loses it, going a tad too over the top, Jim Carrey as a 70-odd year old man dancing like mad?

Still, for the most part it's fun, entertaining and rather mesmerising.

7/10

[andrews]

Empire have an article about ten movie Scrooges, which you might like to read .....

Ten Movie Scrooges Assessed
We rate the many Christmas Carols over the years
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is so well known that it's barely Christmas unless you see at least one version of the classic tale. Whether acted out with ducks, womanisers or TV executives, it's a perennially popular structure - bad guy turns good thanks to ghosts - that keeps being recycled. But how do the contenders stack up? We assess some of the most popular and distinctive Scrooges and matching Ghosts to see which winter's tale comes out ahead...

http://www.empireonline.com/features/mo ... tter%20(1)

[Beate]

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/films/disne ... ewsletters

The ViewLondon Review

Review by Matthew Turner
04/11/2009
Two out of Five stars
Running time: 96 mins

The animation and 3D effects are extremely impressive but the story drags terribly and fails to engage on an emotional level, whilst parts of it may prove too frightening for young children.

What's it all about?
Adapted from the classic story by Charles Dickens, Disney’s A Christmas Carol is directed by Robert Zemeckis, who uses the same animation techniques that he used with The Polar Express (so that the animated characters closely resemble the actors portraying them). Jim Carrey plays Victorian miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who hates Christmas and is insufferably mean to everyone around him, including his kindly nephew, Fred (Colin Firth), and his assistant, Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman).

On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his recently deceased business partner, Jacob Marley (Oldman again, though the character bears an uncanny resemblance to Phil Daniels), who tells him he'll be visited by three more ghosts, The Ghost of Christmas Past (Jim Carrey), The Ghost of Christmas Present (Jim Carrey again) and The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come (Carrey again). Will mean old Scrooge mend his ways in time for Christmas day?

The Good
Technically speaking, the animation is extremely impressive, whilst Zemeckis makes good use of the 3D effects, particularly when the ghosts show up. This also allows for a few creative liberties, such as a completely superfluous chase scene or a sequence in which Scrooge is suddenly really tiny and running around a huge room.

The Bad
Unfortunately, as good as the animation is, it never quite manages to bring any of the characters to life and the film fails to connect on an emotional level as a result. The film also drags horribly in the middle section (despite attempts to liven things up with chase scenes, etc.) and is frequently dull, whilst the scarier moments might prove too much for younger children.

However, the biggest problem is a strangely disappointing performance from Jim Carrey, who underplays it throughout (perhaps wary of comparisons with The Grinch) and ends up delivering a muttering, nondescript Scrooge that could have been voiced by anyone. This is further compounded by the character design, which errs on the side of crotchety old miser and ends up looking more like Albert Steptoe than Jim Carrey.

Worth seeing?
Where are the Muppets when you really need them? Despite some technically impressive animation, Disney’s A Christmas Carol fails to breathe any life into the story and is ultimately something of a disappointment.

[a_person]

Watched this last week at Cineworld in 3D. The quality was pretty good and I was glad it was a short film. Story was as expected... followed the normal but I felt there could have been more focus on the characters. I thought the ghost of future was pretty scary for young children! It was in the same screen we watched Bruno in Beate!!! I like that screen!

Loads of families when I went to see it though children seemed to really enjoy it. Not a brilliant film but not bad either. I felt it should have been released in December though near enough to Christmas... It's just that Christmasy feeling you get that goes with it! (That's any film that has a strong focus on Christmas should be released near enough to Christmas!!!). A good 7/10 for me.

[Beate]

Which is why I might wait till December to watch it - if it's still around then!

[a_person]

Odeon said screenings are normally for three weeks so it should be around 3 weeks from date of release... I think it will still show around mid-Dec particularly for Christmas although there will be probably be less timings for it... Some stuff last for ages so hopefully shouldn't be a problem....