Synopsis: An animated retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.Let's face it, this story has been told so many times in movie form that the only real difference is usually going to be the style in which it is told. This version from Disney is a very stylish one for sure, and quite an inventive take on the classic. But it's darker than most versions and dare I say a bit creepy pretty often.
They use motion-capture-animation here and it does look really, really nice. There are times when the visuals are so great the story sort of takes a backseat even, which maybe kind of misses the point. Scrooge goes on some "flights" through London and it's very exciting and all-in-all every set and every ghost and character look fabulous I thought, maybe so much so that the style wins out over substance and the story loses a bit of focus.
Character-wise, this may be the most memorable portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge yet (or at least since Alastair Sim's in 1951), as Jim Carrey does the voice (and many others) and is just awesome. All the ghosts are really cool in their own unique way and strangely emotional. For lack of a better way to put it, they're all very (pun alert) "haunting." It's not all light and fluffy, but intense during their scenes.
One section I wasn't a fan of is when the final ghost is chasing Scrooge through the streets of London and for some reason he becomes tiny. It felt like some sort of Looney Tunes scene with Marvin the Martian or something to me, and the tone was just so different from the rest of the film. Not sure what was up with that.
It is a bit of new twist on the tale and a more modern and dark twist at that, but it may not have the soul of some other versions. Nonetheless, it's very entertaining, visually awesome and will be in my Christmas rotation for many years to come.
7.5/10
