A Christmas Carol has been done countless times before. The story rarely changes, as the Charles Dickens classic doesn’t need such a change. The only thing that has really changed in regards to the production seems to be the actors.
If you’re not familiar with the story it goes a little something like this. A grumpy, bitter man named Ebenezer Scrooge only cares about money and nothing else. His greed has led to his complete disconnection to his fellow man’s needs and he goes out of his way to make sure he doesn’t help anyone in need. Having lost his business partner, and almost friend, Marley, he truly has nothing in his life. His only shining light, and unknown friend, is an employee named Bob Cratchit, who puts up with Scrooge’s mean antics and selfish greed. Everything changes for Scrooge one night when he’s visited by three ghosts, who show Scrooge (or try to) his wrong doings in his past, present and future. Ultimately, they want to show Scrooge the true meaning of Christmas and the power of making someone else’s life better.
A Christmas Carol, regardless of who did it or what format it may be in, is still darn good overall. You can’t really go wrong with it, as the story has been done countless times. The difference between the versions is how it’s presented and who is acting the parts. For Disney to take this into a 3D adventure and use the likes of Jim Carrey as Scrooge is a good move. Carrey, who this reviewer found obnoxious early in his career, has really diversified himself in acting. He has broken the mold he created with Dumb & Dumber and stretched his talents out to properly take on the role of the infamous Scrooge. There are times in the film where you know it’s Jim Carrey, but his ability to play a bitter old man is pretty darn good. He’s convincing and scary at times.
With that said, the fact that Zemeckis and crew decided to use facial features from the actors to create the characters in the movie was a good move. Carrey’s expressions lend a lot to the old Scrooge. His sneers, his eyes, his movement all work well and reinforce a gifted actor’s take on this classic character. Of course, Carrey isn’t the only reason this movie works well. The talents of Gary Oldman (Cratchit, Marley, Tiny Tim), Colin Firth (Fred) and Cary Elwes (whole bunch of people) add to the delight of the film. Zemeckis uses their faces as well for the template of each character. You’ll find something in each character they play that leads back to the actual actor, especially for Oldman’s Cratchit.
Shifting gears a bit, I wasn’t too happy with the first ghost in the bunch. I felt like the Ghost of Christmas Past was a bit over the top, and sometimes not as understandable. The ghost was a bit too whispery for me, as it was difficult to understand its speech. I had to actually turn on the subtitles to fully get what it was trying to say in the story. Also, it didn’t really resemble anything that yelled ‘Past’. I know it’s probably more artistic and out of reach for my feeble reviewer mind to grasp, but it just seemed more like a neat device for 3D than a sensible ghost that resembled more ghosts of its kind in previous films. Anyway, that was my only true complaint about the ghosts, and pretty much about the movie.
The film works remarkably well as another edition to the ongoing, continuous artistic creation of a timeless tale. What I really did like about the film, which I didn’t think I would when the trailer was first released on the interwebs was the animation. Folks, this animation is some of the most beautifully detailed animation that I’ve seen on film to date. I’m not sure if Pixar could have produced such detail in the short amount of time it took to create this movie, but I am sure that I’m impressed by it.
Moving on to the Blu-ray portion of the film….
Animated features continue to impress me when it comes to them going to Blu-ray. While I think this film could have been released on Blu-ray 3D (and worked perfectly), the amount of crisp, clean detail you get with A Christmas Carol on Blu-ray is nothing short of magical to the eyes. You’ll fully understand how good it looks in 1080p when you see Marley’s dead face come to life for the first time. You’ll see the skin wrinkles perfect, the shimmering coins on his dead eyes and the perfect amount of shading to make this dead man look real. When you see Scrooge’s face for the first time you’ll also get the unshaven stubble on his face that looks so real that you’ll swear you’re looking at Jim Carrey in make-up; it’s just that beautiful.
Equally as beautiful is the audio, which is an important part to the atmosphere of this film. It’s been mastered in DTS-HD 5.1 for your pleasure and if you have the capabilities of enjoying such a mastering then you’ll benefit greatly from the Blu-ray. When you are introduced to Marley’s ghost you’ll fully understand why 5.1 DTS-HD is so vital to bringing even more out of this film.
Finally, here’s what you’re looking at for special features:
Blu-ray features:
• Behind The Carol: The Full Motion Capture Experience
• Countdown to Christmas Interactive Calendar
• Deleted Scenes
DVD features include:
• Capturing A Christmas Carol
• On Set With Sammi
• Deleted Scenes
So, while I appreciate the fact that you get a great featurette on how everything was done (kind of a ‘making of’ featurette) and you get a tour of the set, this set of features just doesn’t seem enough. I wish that Zemeckis had done some commentary (just pure audio) or Jim Carrey had done some commentary (or both). What you get will be enough to entertain, but it just feels like it isn’t quite enough for a big release like this. I do enjoy the countdown to Christmas, though. It’s an interactive calendar counting down the 25 days until Christmas (kids will love this).
Anyway, still a good set of features.