A Christmas Carol movie review

Here's what you need to know; Scrooge is a man who is hated by everyone in London, known for being a soulless, greed driven business man with a particular hatred of Christmas. But one Christmas his deceased business partner returns to warn him of his looming fate, and offers him a chance to change it, now Scrooge must face his demons and learn a kindness that left him long ago.
This latest adaptation of the Charles Dickens story was brought to us by Disney in 2009, and, to celebrate this most festive of holidays, I'm reviewing A Christmas Carol.

A Christmas Carol opens with Scrooge being a scrooge, in a scene that I really like, where we see just how horrid Scrooge is, in a very fun sequence through London showing people celebrating Christmas. Since he's the main character we'll start with Scrooge, played by Jim Carrey, who I think is a really interesting character, it's kind of unsettling to see how heartless he is, and the scenes where that greedy mask falls are equally as cool, as the various ghosts take him on his adventure, from a character standpoint I very much like the scenes where he's with Present and Future, Future in particular, more on that later. Really though the other characters in the film are less interesting, Fred and Cratchit both have really good moments, but again that's with the ghosts, on their own they only play minor roles, and aren't that interesting. The ghosts on the other hand are really cool, Past has a really cool design, while I'm not sure what to make of the voice. Present meanwhile is characterised by his roaring laughter and jolly nature, he's cool, and he gets quite menacing towards the end. But if you want menacing, my favourite, Future is really cool, him usually just being the shadow of a hooded figure, maybe it's my fear of the dark, or shadows, or maybe an apprehension for the future, but Future really gets under my skin, in a really good way. From a technical standpoint the film is now a bit of a mixed bag, like most motion capture animated films it can sometimes get a bit uncanny valley, while other times it looks fine, contrasted by other times when it really doesn't, those however are more of an issue of physics, which I know doesn't make a huge amount of sense, but watch the film and you'll know what I mean. Unfortunately I do have a notable issue with the film, and it's one that won't make a lot of sense as well, this film was released in 3D, and I get the sense that it's really intended to be seen in 3D because it has some really flashy moments that, in my opinion, kind of feel out of place in the story. Example, the bells in Scrooge's room go nuts, then silence, then you here a noise from the hall, as it gets closer you recognise it, heavy dragging and rattling chains, it gets closer, and Scrooge get's more afraid, as do you, then that great moment of unease is ruined when the ghost enters, throwing it's weights through the wall and at the screen. I really feel that these flashier scenes kind of let the film down, and a slower burn would have made for a more enjoyable film overall. There is however 2 exceptions to this issue, and I won't spoil them because they are fantastic scenes that I really enjoy watching. And by far my favourite scene in the film is one of these scenes, it's during the Future sequence, and it's superb, I love it.

A Christmas Carol is a film I like parts of, while disliking other parts; Scrooge and the ghosts are all really cool, while the rest of the line up is a bit underwhelming for the most part, the animation is good at times while not so good at other times, and I do feel that the film is too flashy at times, but then there are other times where I am really liking this film, and they make it for me. I can definitely recommend A Christmas Carol, it's worth a watch.