Disney's A Christmas Carol review

Perhaps the biggest surprise to me this fall was this. I've always been lukewarm when it came to Robert Zemeckis' animated pictures. The man has done some fantastic things technically and most of the 3D and motion capture effects that are used in film, tv and video games came from him and his studio. However "The Polar Express" was a bit dull and dry and the characters were too much polished zombie for me. "Beowulf" was a letdown. Partially because I expected something more and partially because the 3D wasn't that strong. So I didn't walk into expecting much. And even with that, I still think this is his best animated feature to date and a perfect 3D film.

First off the graphics and animation are superb. Dozens and dozens of shots look more real and animated and the 3D is far stronger than any of the 3D films I've seen yet. Second is that Zemeckis also wrote the screenplay. He's a talented director, but he's an extremely talented writer. Here he doesn't make this a kiddie Scrooge. No... instead he takes his version into a darkness. A darkness and doom that Scrooge is supposed to feel throughout all three haunting, not just the final one. Jim Carrey also plays Scrooge much more dramatically then comically. In fact you could count the funny moments on one hand. His face is used for all the characters he plays, but finding like his voice they're all transformed in certain ways. Zemeckis keeps him wizzing through the world camera approach, but it's the quiet and still moments that work best. Hell there are even times he aims to be scary and jar the audience a little bit.

The only two problems I have are mild, but they exist. The final haunting and the added chase scene goes on a bit too long and messes with the perfect pacing it had. The film isn't particularly long, but that really stretched it out. And the second... well... it's the film itself in a way. There was such an amazing job done on this film... I mean for my money it's one of the best animated film of the year, far better than "Up". But if only that tech could've gone into a story when haven't heard and seen a billion times. I'm pretty sure this and "Dracula" are the most remade stories in history, however this is one that we see a new version of every year just about. It's nit picky, but I wish instead this could've gone into a fresh new Zemeckis story. However... for it to be a Scrooge story it is fantastic and near perfect. And at least now we can look forward to Zemeckis keeping his promise and bringing us a new "Roger Rabbit" film. Now that's exciting.

"Disney's A Christmas Carol" *** 1/2 out of ****