A Christmas Carol is amazing. It is a terrific film, but before we indulge into that, let me give you a brief summary of the animation used here.
The animation in the film is Mo-Cap which is when actors dress in black suits and have their movements recorded on CGI characters. Examples of this are Gollum from Lord of The Rings and Na'avi in the upcoming Avatar.
Robert Zemeckis (the director) has now made 3 films in this format: The Polar Express, Beowulf and now A Christmas Carol, his best since Cast Away.
We all know the tale, so let me get to the point: this film is something to marvel at. There have been god knows how many adaptations of this story, and yet this never feels like it is a retread. On the contrary, this feels like you'll remember this singular tale for Christmas's to come.
Jim Carrey astounds as Scoorge (in all of his ages) and The 3 ghosts that haunt him. He really puts a fine job here and I think it's my favorite performance of him ever. He really seems to be having a lot of fun as these 4 characters. Bob Hoskins is nice as Cratchit and Fezziwig and Colin Firth is delightful as Fred, Scrooge's nephew. Robin Wright Penn is even in here as Scrooge's old girlfriend Blle, though she doesn't get to do much.
I haven't really like Mo-Cap until now. The Polar Express frightened me with it's zombie like humans and Beowulf just seemed out of place with it's actors and characters. Here all of that has been fixed with even the yes looking much better. It feels more genuine than ever before.
Another good thing is that most of this film is straight from the book by Charles Dickens. Scenes that aren't in most adaptations are in here and don't feel tacked on.
I have just noticed now that I have gone on for a while just praising this film to the high heavens, but it really is a grand christmas joy. I say, see this film the holiday season or your Christmas just won't be complete.
Rating: A or 9.4 out of 10
SYS
No comments:
Post a Comment