| # | Author | Message |
1
| dshyates
Fri 11/6/2009 11:26a | I just got home from seeing the 11:45am 3-D IMAX screening. OMG! This is one intense and scary ghost story. They put evey funny bit in the trailer. And thus a little misleading. It is flat out scary. That said, it is a fantastic film. But I would think it is too intense for little kids. I will have to see it again to take it all in, but WOW what a ride. It reminds me in some ways of early Disney films like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty with a little Darby O'Gill thrown in for good measure. |
2
| dizkid
Sun 11/8/2009 5:04p | The trailer was misleading, but I think most people know the story. I'm not saying dshyates doesn't know the story of A Christmas Carol. |
3
| irishfan
Sun 11/8/2009 6:26p | I loved it and was impressed with Disney for not trying to "lighten" it up! It's very authentic to the book, and as dshyates mentioned scary in places. My only fault with the movie was the scene where Scrooge shrinks and has a madcap trip around london, kind of unnecessary and detracted from the story for me. |
4
| Kala
Mon 11/9/2009 6:05a | We saw it in the IMAX with my 9 yr. old nephew and absolutely LOVED it! WOW! My 4 y.o. niece went with her parents and liked it immensley but she loves being spooked, her 4 y.o. cousin probably wouldn't do as well. Go see it but you know your kids if they don't like scary things get a sitter if you think they can handle it take them with you it was very well done and Jim Carrey's scrooge was spot on! ENJOY! I want to see it again! |
5
| dshyates
Mon 11/9/2009 11:29a | "The trailer was misleading, but I think most people know the story. I'm not saying dshyates doesn't know the story of A Christmas Carol."
What was misleading about the trailer is that it makes it look funny and a Jim Carrey fest. But Carrey was very restrained and its not very funny at all. AND they left out any hint that it would be as intense as it is.
That said I like it more than I thought I would from viewing the trailer. |
6
| mawnck
Mon 11/9/2009 2:08p | I saw it in 2D.
It's not much of a movie without the 3D eye candy.
You can tell that they worked terribly hard at getting Scrooge (at least the elderly version) to look as quasi-realistic as possible. I actually bought his character as a real person a good 30% of the time, and to me that's dang impressive. Jim Carey's performance was quite good until his "transformation" at the end of the movie, at which time he turned into, well, Jim Carey.
The rest of the cast, especially incidental characters, are still infected with the Uncanny Valley syndrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U...y_valley , made worse by the just-unrealistic-enough-to-be-really-disquieting character designs. Teenage Scrooge in particular looked especially deformed.
Getting past all that (which I couldn't), the flick suffers from the 3D hoo-ha getting in the way of the story, and the story getting in the way of the 3D hoo-ha. The shrunk Scrooge chased by the fiery chariot part (what was UP with that anyway?) wasn't the only time the story ground to a complete stop for an extended period of technological wizardry for its own sake.
They also had an irritating habit of suspending the laws of physics for the allegedly unenchanted flesh-and-blood characters. And what was up with that going all slapsticky for 30 seconds or so in the middle of nearly every high-tension scene? I'm not sure anyone really sat down and thought about what sort of movie they were making here. Either that or there was some particularly heinous executive meddling going on here. The movie would've been somewhat improved by just leaving that stuff out and letting the scares be scary.
Supporting character development is almost nonexistent, and I don't think I've ever been as nonplussed by Tiny Tim in my life.
I just didn't buy most of what this movie was selling. I would put this near the bottom of the Christmas Carols that I've seen.
I would recommend that if you're just dead set on seeing this, insist on 3D. Cause that's the one thing it has going for it, as is immediately apparent when you're watching the conventional version. In 2D, it just isn't worth the time. 4 stars out of 10. |
7
| threeundertwo
Mon 11/9/2009 4:44p | I think I'll pass, although this is my favorite story of all time, I loathe Jim Carey. Thank you for the reviews. |
8
| mawnck
Mon 11/9/2009 4:55p | >>I loathe Jim Carey.<<
Don't stay away because of this. I'm not crazy about him either, but he won't even cross your mind until right at the end.
One question I've always had (being that kind of kid) ... why did the ghosts try to save Scrooge but not Marley? |
9
| DAR
Mon 11/9/2009 5:00p | Maybe it was a case of whoever died first wouldn't be saved. |
10
| DAR
Mon 11/9/2009 5:12p | Here's something I've wondered about the animated version from Disney. So in the story of A Christmas Carol, Marley is said to have been worse than Scrooge during his lifetime. And yet, and I love him because he's my favorite character, they get Goofy to play Marley. I realize as a ghost he's different but I just couldn't picture Goofy being that mean.
But that is still one of my favorite adaptations along with the 1951 version with Alastair Sim. And the George C Scott version that was a tv movie in 1984 |
