A Christmas Carol Review

Set in Victorian London Jim Carrey is Scrooge, the grumpy miser who hates the holiday season. On Christmas Eve he falls asleep and is visited by various ghostly apparitions. Firstly it’s his old business partner, Jacob Marley (Gary Oldman), who tells Scrooge he has wasted his life by only thinking about money and business. Then there’s the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Come (all also played by Carrey), who little-by-little convince Scrooge to change his ways.

Jim Carrey’s looking rough these days.

It’s a familiar tale, but one that is given a fresh injection of excitement and originality by Zemeckis’ bold decision to shoot in beautiful 3-D mo-cap. The helmer is obviously obsessed with the technology and has become – along with James Cameron (Avatar) – its advocate-in-chief. The director is now working exclusively in the medium, with his last two efforts – The Polar Express and Beowulf – proving ambitious-but-flawed attempts to push mo-cap towards ever more photorealistic levels.

With A Christmas Carol however Zemeckis has taken a slightly different approach. In a recent interview he described this ‘Carol’ as the “graphic novel” version of the book; meaning that every aspect of the visuals – especially the characters and the ghostly sequences – are exaggerated and almost cartoon-like. This proves a great fit for the material, with each character larger-than-life and often sporting gruesome features. Carrey’s Scrooge, complete with ridiculously long, pointy chin, is a truly monstrous creation.

The scenery itself is also jaw-droppingly beautiful. The film begins with a brilliant opening tracking-shot that swoops and weaves above Victorian London, over spires, under lampposts, through windows and finally ending up in Scrooge’s dingy office. The scene takes place whilst your eyes are still adjusting to the 3-D, and the combination of twinkly snow, smoky skylines and looping camerawork look spectacular. It’s a shot that justifies using the technology.

The visuals are at their most hallucinogenic and madcap when the ghosts arrive, with the spooky visitors heralding several thrill-ride action scenes. Indeed this must be the most action-packed version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ ever. We see poor Scrooge flung into space on a chimney, glide over London in a strange floor-less room, and try to escape the clutches of the sinister Ghost of Yet-To-Be whilst he dwindles in size. We don’t remember any of this in the Muppet version, but the spectacular computer-generated magic accurately recreates some of the barmy, wacky imagery in Dickens’ text.

Another aspect in which the movie stays surprisingly close to the source material is through the dialogue. Almost all of the speech (apart from when Scrooge cringe-worthily says “happy holidays!” at the end) is lifted from the original book. The effect of seeing characters speak in olde English is initially jarring, but you soon get used to it and the language helps ground the story in the period.

So as a technical exercise then, A Christmas Carol works a treat. Much like Beowulf before it, this is a visually astonishing and contemporary way to update an age-old tale for younger and more demanding audiences. Unfortunately however, again like Zemeckis’ recent work, Carol never gets to the real heart of the story or really works on an emotional level.

The pivotal point in ‘A Christmas Carol’ has always been the moment of Scrooge’s transformation from tight-fisted miserablist to life-loving go-getter; when he recovers his humanity. Unfortunately this vital character development arc gets lost amidst the huge, kinetic set-pieces. Scrooge’s ‘dark night of the soul’ becomes less a moral journey of discovery and more a mere battle of survival as he is flung from one big chase scene to the next.

Scrooge goes face-to-face with the ghost of Jacob Marley.