Miser Ebeneezer Scrooge is a stranger waking up from his sleep because of the spirits that were presented to him on Christmas Eve. The spirits told him about the many challenges and disasters that would cause him to collapse as the misery he might have, the opportunities he wasted and the conflicts he faced, and perhaps tell him the dire fate he would have if he did not change the way he acted. Is a terrifying story in the life of a man whose life has turned upside down. In addition, there are many phenomena that occur at Christmas are unexpected.
Does this entertainment achieve a timelessness beyond its exquisite source material? Not even. Yet there's pleasure to be had and relief in feeling the filmmakers didn't Scrooge it up either.
American Profile
September 30, 2011
A supernatural parable of terrifying, chain-rattling spirits and mind-warping time travel, with a theme of social responsibility that extends far beyond seasonal cheer.
A remarkable and effective adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel that manages to overcome the familiarity of its source material and become something more fulfilling.
The motion capture animation is top-notch and it's hard not to be impressed with what Robert Zemeckis has wrought, even if there's the occasional sense he's pandering to an audience that can't get through a 90 minute story without a few yuks and a chase.
