Westside Steve Posted November 18, 2009 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 Disney’s A Christmas Carol Disney PG 96 min The retelling and/or repackaging of the Charles Dickens classic is as big a tradition as the seasonal advertising blitz and this year it’s come as early as the post Halloween holiday ads. Sure we bitch about decorated trees and sappy jing a ling pitches before we’ve even baked the thanksgiving turkey but, well, Disney must know what they’re doing. Right? This one’s right down the Disney lane, featuring high quality, big stars (featuring Jim Carrey as Scrooge) and tradition. The tale itself is the classic script (which should please the purists), with no modernization or cutesy hooks as in SCROOGED and the like. The animation is great but these days anybody with a laptop should be able to whip up top rate graphics. I’ve seen a few 3 D blockbusters lately and the technology is way above the blue and red cardboard specs from the fifties but it can’t make a bad movie good. Don’t get me wrong, A CHRISTMAS CAROL is not a bad movie at all, but it wasn’t as good as I’d expected, and here’s why. First is, the animation. It was top notch in scope and realism not unlike THE POLAR EXPRESS, but that realism tends to blur the line between human characters and animated ones leaving a slightly creepy feel. Second was the by the book telling of the story which just seemed to me to lack some fire. It was almost like hearing the soundtrack of one of the versions from the 40s. And that is exacerbated by reason three, the cast. Carrey’s forte is his physical comedy where he stands without rival, but not so much as a voice talent, and he does the voices for not only Scrooge but the ghosts as well. On top of that one of the greatest actors alive, Gary Oldman, is basically wasted on the relatively minor Bob Cratchit. It’s just weird to give a Disney flick anything under an A. B- WSS Email westsidesteve@aol.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosar_For_President Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Gary Oldman shows up in the weirdest places and there has never been a time he hasn't 100% pulled it off. I think he's the best actor alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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