by popular demand Oh Christmas Carol
yeah I kind of a bonehead move to forget
this one wasn't it especially seeing how
it's oh I don't know Christmas related
it's December but to be fair I kind of
forget this one is Disney I mean when I
think of Disney Christmas Carol I think
of the Mickey Mouse and Scrooge McDuck
this I associated more with Robert
Zemeckis as motion capture what Disney's
name is on the title so it definitely
counts and as versions of A Christmas
Carol hold up there are some things are
really good and some things that are not
very good I guess is kind of pointless
going over the story seeing how there's
what two of you who don't know it but
what the hell I'll be nice Eponine
Scrooge is a heartless cold man who has
a real hate for Christmas he's not very
nice to his employee Bob Cratchit but
all that changes when the apparition of
his old partner Jacob Marley comes back
to life and tells him that he'll be
haunted by three ghosts these are the
ghosts of Christmas past present and
future and they do a good job of scaring
the [ __ ] out of him while also showing
what the true meaning of Christmas is
actually let me go back and change that
they don't just scare the [ __ ] out of
him
they really [ __ ] scare the [ __ ] out
of him and that's the real irony of this
movie when I went in I thought it was
gonna be too light-hearted like it was
gonna be too goofy Jim Carrey as mr.
Scrooge and only over-the-top CG
animation especially coming from Disney
I thought this was gonna be a real
goofball and don't get me wrong there's
some real stupid goofball moments clad
tight like my face oh my gosh yeah that
that added a lot the rest of the movie
is not only dark though it's intensely
dark and don't get me wrong I love dark
stuff as well the reasons I love A
Christmas Carol
it does have so many dark elements but
good yeah they're supposed to be a
balance what make Christmas carols so
great is that it did have a lot of dark
elements but also had a lot of cheerful
elements it's supposed to make you
realize the wonder and enjoyment of
Christmas you go to the dark stuff so
that when you come back to the light
stuff you can appreciate it all the more
this movie likes the dark stuff
a to much take the scene where the ghost
of Christmas present is supposed to be
fading away now this is usually a very
sad quiet mysterious scene as we say
goodbye to one of our favorite
characters but here
[ __ ] it's quite a few scenes like this
that goes so over-the-top dark that it's
almost comical
however the appropriate dark scenes are
supposed to be disturbing are done
pretty well too but we'll get to that in
a moment
how's the acting in the movie
particularly Jim Carrey as Ebenezer
Scrooge you know sadly Jim Carrey is one
of those people where every single time
you see him you know he's trying as hard
as you know he's acting his heart out
you know every single moment he's on
screen he's thinking to himself what is
the best thing he can do to give a good
performance and I give so much credit to
him for that but God every single time I
see him I just see Jim Carrey I almost
never see an actual character there I
just eat Jim Carrey tried to portray
that character I had the same problem
with Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Cruise I
can just never see past the fact that's
Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Cruise to his
credit though it's not quite as bad as
you may think it is his voice is very
distinct and very clear it's nice to
listen to he's over the top moments are
much more restrained despite an obvious
over-the-top design and I think he can
get across the series moments ok that is
ok let me point this way I've seen a lot
more Evan easer Scrooge's that were more
over the top than this have you seen
Albert Finney's version lately let me
assure you that I am a man of the
highest principles in the most
inner-city yeah where he really doesn't
succeed though is playing the other
ghosts now don't get me wrong the idea
of having the actor who plays Scrooge
play the other goes I actually think is
kind of clever like they're all sort of
representations of him or variations and
when they quote his own lines back to
him it's all the more effective if he is
to die he had better do it and decrease
the surplus population I think that's
actually kind of a cool idea but yeah
they're pretty awkward
with the exception of the ghost of
Christmas future who's kept in shadows
or really anybody could play him the
ghost of Christmas past has a great
design but just sort of a weird Irish
accent
weird way of breathing and talking and
it's just odd Assad reach I neglected by
his friends left and the ghost of
Christmas present laughs way too damn
much and it's sort of that weird Jim
Carrey laughs where he's kind of playing
to the camera yeah it's pretty annoying
so that's one thing to have the actor
who played Scrooge also played the ghost
but why is it a lot of the actors and
the other parts are playing other roles
I mean okay Gary Oldman and Colin Firth
I mean they can hide their voices a
little bit but I hear Bob Hoskins voice
like six or seven times in this thing
and that is one of the most distinct
voices on the planet he's a great actor
one of my favorites but when you're
trying to play them in an animated film
and trying to pawn off that these are
different people when clearly it's
always Bob Hoskins it's really
distracting how about the motion capture
people always have a real love or hate
feeling towards this because a lot of
times they feel like well they feel it's
brave for the actors because the actors
can actually a mode and it's their
performance and it works much better
blending them into the CG environment
because they're already CG themselves
however a lot of people feel that's a
problem because that takes the
performance away from the animator so
now the animator can't a moat unless he
just wants to stick to the performance
that while the actor is giving and it
definitely looks weird when you have
some scenes of people that look really
realistic but then other scenes like
this they're so distinctly cartoony and
really sort of ruin the tone they just
don't match up
I guess I'm sort of half-and-half but
yeah I guess I do sort of prefer it
either being more the actor or more the
animator so maybe it's best this sort of
face sensor technology isn't being done
anymore but who knows maybe somebody can
take it to a new dimension I'm open to
it so for a die-hard Christmas carol fan
like myself is there nothing worth
recommending in this film actually not
only do I think there is some really
good stuff in this film but I think it's
some of the best I've ever seen in any
movie but like I said just some certain
parts for example the way the ghost of
Christmas present transport 7yz er is
really something to see I saw this in
IMAX in 3d this was a really great
effect
but it still looks pretty good on TV as
well even though I said before it is
overly dark when they get it right they
get it pretty right I mean I love the
atmosphere just building up to the
appearance of the first ghosts I love
the quiet moments I love the still
moments the shadow of Christmas future
is literally a shadow that's a great
idea
you almost never see him in three
dimensions he's always just up against a
wall or against the sheet sir oh it's
just a great creepy image and in my
opinion it has one of the most effective
scenes in any Christmas Carol adaptation
again without giving too much away
though I'm sure a lot of you probably
know
Abin easier is responsible for the death
of a family member of Bob Cratchit
Scrooge and every version as a result
has to see what Bob Cratchit is going
through after his loss
Cratchit tries to hide his pain from his
family but stops when he gets out of
their sight and since evan easer can't
be seen Cratchit doesn't know that he's
actually stopping right in front of him
exposing all the raw emotional pain that
he's going through right in front of
Evan d'azyr's face there's nowhere for
him to escape he has to face it head-on
that was unbelievable it's probably the
best variation of that moment I've ever
seen final verdict if you're sick and
tired of a Christmas carol and everyone
doing the adaptations trying to be the
one adaptation that everyone wants to
see the most faithful one bla bla bla
bla bla this one probably isn't going to
sway you
anyone who's sick of hearing the
dialogue word-for-word from the book
over and over is probably not gonna be
changed by this however if you are a big
fan of the story like I am I think you
might find one or two alterations in
this that you might actually see as
being worth it yeah some parts are
stupid but honestly going in they're not
as stupid as I thought they were gonna
be I mean just say Jim Carrey in
Disney's Christmas Carol yeah this could
have been a lot worse is it something I
would watch every Christmas probably not
but then again I did watch it a couple
times after I saw it in the theaters and
I enjoyed admiring the scenes that I
admire as
whoa rolling my eyes at the others so
take it for what it's worth I am glad I
saw it so I will say it definitely gives
new meaning to the term scare that
Dickens out of you
[ __ ]
Oh