A Christmas Carol is about an old man Ebenezer Scrooge who must come face to face with three ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past, who shows Scrooge where he came from, and what kind of man used to be. The Ghost of Christmas Present, who opens Scrooges eyes to the glum world of today, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come who shows Scrooge what the world will be like if he doesn’t strive to be a better man. The story takes place in London in the 1800’s around Christmas day. Jim Carrey plays the roles of Ebenezer Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
I thought Jim Carrey did an amazing job playing as Ebenezer Scrooge. However I expected more laughter or more of a funny side to Scrooge. Instead it was the nasty cold hearted old man that we all watched before. I expected Scrooge to be more animated…more alive. Every now and again you could see Jim Carrey’s facial expressions shine through and add character to the old man. Overall though Jim Carrrey’s voice acting really portrayed an old man from the 1800’s.
The Ghost of Christmas Past is the first to meet with Scrooge. He is a candle, the body being the candle stick and the face a bright flame. This had to be my favorite ghost simply because it was a goofy one and was a lot more like the Jim Carrey I wanted to see in this movie. My favorite scene in the movie is when Scrooge tries to extinguish the ghost by putting a giant candle snuffer over his head. This doesn’t contain the ghost for long however, as Scrooge is rocketed up towards the sky as the ghost dissipates and the rest you will have to see for yourself.
The Ghost of Christmas Present is a big jolly man sitting on top of a mountain of presents and treats wearing a robe that exposes his chest hair. He is kind of a mix between Santa and a king. I really enjoyed the scenes with this ghost except when he would laugh. The laughter got a bit annoying after awhile.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a ghostly shadow that looks like the grim reaper. This was my least favorite ghost as most of the scenes involving him are very dark. I don’t mean dark as in the tone but the picture. It was sometimes hard to see what was going on since the 3D glasses give a bit of a dark tint anyways.
I went into this movie thinking it was going to be a comedy yet quickly realized I was mistaken. However I didn’t leave the movie unsatisfied. I actually really enjoyed it. It is an excellent movie to get you into the holiday spirit. Yet I would caution anyone to take really young kids to it because some of the ghosts are actually really scary. The movie lacked a bit of the emotion and heart that the old one did, yet I still walked out feeling in the spirit of the holidays. I encourage you to go and see this movie its a fun film and you will leave satisfied.
Now for the fun part. The visuals in this movie were incredible! I remember back when Toy Story came out I said to myself “I can’t wait until these graphics are what video games look like”. Well I left the theater thinking the exact same thing to myself today. You can literally see every pore, and every hair follicle, and every fabric fiber. There were several scenes in the movie where you get to fly over London in the 1800’s and wow, that was like a roller coaster ride. The opening credits have you flying around churches and over the streets all the while snowflakes are falling, and are so realistic looking I prepared to catch one on my tongue…just in case. The 3d effects in the scenes without the ghosts were rather bland however. There are a few scenes during the day when Scrooge is walking the streets that are really stunning. But most the movie takes place during the night time so everything is dark and dreary. During the night scenes I actually found it hard seeing all the details of the movie since the 3d glasses have a tint to them. If I took the glasses off I could see everything just fine, but its a shame Disney didn’t catch this and brighten up some of the darker scenes. I would explain the 3d experience in this movie as a roller coaster ride, it certainly has its ups and downs but the highs are just brilliant.
