A Christmas Carol
The Ghosts of Technology Present
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, a branded piece of shiny seasonal entertainment, uses the digital technique of performance capture and the enhancements of 3-D projection to deliver a big, noisy and sometimes terrifying version of the Charles Dickens tale on which it is based. That much is to be expected, and the casting of Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge (and some of the ghosts who haunt him) might also lead you to expect rubber-limbed clowning and a motor-mouth barrage of semi-crude humor. But the surprise of this movie — a welcome one — is that, in the midst of obeying the rules of modern-day spectacle, it sticks close to some of the sturdy virtues of the source material. Mr. Zemeckis’s script retains much of the flavor of Dickens’s prose — not just the catchphrases like “Bah, humbug” and “God bless us everyone,” but also the formal diction and the moral concern. The specters that pop out at poor Scrooge on his nightlong ordeal are certainly frightening (parents of young children, consider yourselves warned), but the dread derives much of its force from the cruelty and selfishness that define Scrooge’s world.
Mr. Carrey, his facial features exaggerated by the animating process and his voice a dry, creaky growl, takes his place in a long and diverse line of screen Scrooges, including Mr. Magoo, George C. Scott, Bill Murray and Alastair Sim, the British actor whose 1951 version remains definitive. But Mr. Carrey, using the advantages of the motion-capture technique and overcoming some of its obstacles, does an excellent job of showing how the character recovers his humanity.
But there are times when the zeal for big, show-stopping effects goes too far, in particular a chase sequence in which Scrooge, on the run from the skeletal ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, shrinks to a squeaky-voiced pixie and darts through gutters and drainpipes. This attempt to juice up the third act with action-movie thrills is alien both to the spirit and logic of the story, and it’s the one major lapse in a movie that otherwise strikes an impressive balance between sensationalism and understatement.
I’m sure Disney and Mr. Zemeckis will regret this mistake all the way to the bank. Other problems with the film seem intrinsic to the state of the art of turning the movements and expressions of real actors into animated images. With ghosts, grotesques and a few other major characters (Colin Firth as Scrooge’s nephew, Gary Oldman as Bob Cratchit), Mr. Zemeckis and his effects crew create uncannily lifelike performances. But minor characters and extras have the cold, rubbery look of video-game avatars (who are created in similar ways), and you can be impressed by the technical accomplishment that sets them in motion without being moved by what they do.
But “A Christmas Carol” — I mean the source material, without a corporate possessive attached to it — remains among the most moving works of holiday literature, and Mr. Zemeckis has remained true to its finest sentiments. He is an innovator, but his traditionalism is what makes this movie work.
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol” is rated PG (Parental Guidance suggested). It has some very scary ghosts and decidedly creepy horror-movie effects.
DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Opens on Friday nationwide.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis; written by Mr. Zemeckis, based on the story by Charles Dickens; director of photography, Robert Presley; edited by Jeremiah O’Driscoll; music by Alan Silvestri; production designer, Doug Chiang; animation supervisor, Jenn Emberly; visual effects supervisor, George Murphy; produced by Steve Starkey, Mr. Zemeckis and Jack Rapke; released by Walt Disney Pictures and ImageMovers Digital. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes.
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