JTA The Film Passionator’s review published on Letterboxd:
A Christmas Carol - Brilliant but Dark!
A Christmas Carol (2009) is an animated Christmas fantasy movie directed and written by Robert Zemeckis. The movie features Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn, and Bob Hoskins.
Based on the 1843 Charles Dickens novella of the same name, the movie centers on a grouchy elderly moneylender named Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) dispising Christmas and happiness as he focuses more on his business. However, he soon meets the ghost of his late partner Jacob Marley (Gary Oldman), who warns him about what would happen to him in afterlife if he does not change his ways. As a result, Scrooge meets three Christmas ghosts that show him his past, present, and future. Will Scrooge take Marley's advice and understand Christmas better?
The story was amazing because it had great slow pacing to explore the character development better. It offers a dark and spooky tone, respect for the source material, an emotional weight that will make viewers heartbroken in some scenes, and accurate representation of how the society behaved in Victorian Times. Christmas, Greed, Redemption, Social Injustice, and Supernatural were important themes the movie explores. These were shown through the movie's title, how Scrooge expresses his despicable opinions on poor people and Christmas, as well as meeting the three Christmas ghosts that allow him to redeem his past self by showing him the most important aspects of the holidays compared to money.
Like The Polar Express (2004), the animation was fantastic since the locations look realistic and gave the viewers a better understanding on what the buildings looked like in the Victorian England Times. Also, the animation provided great character designs that stay true to how everyone was described in the novella, such as Scrooge being shown with a "pointed nose" and a "shrivelled cheek". However, the animation tends to be creepy at times, especially Jacob Marley's ghost creating disturbing expressions.
Both the voice acting and motion capturing from the cast were outstanding since they made the characters move in a realistic fashion and staying true to their personalities from the book. Jim Carrey delivered the best performance because he correctly portrayed Scrooge as a grouchy old man in a serious manner, which is contrasting to his usual comedic performances.
Robert Zemeckis' directing and writing skills were spectacular because he successfully adapted the book by following its plot structure and incorporating its memorable dialogue that suits Scrooge well. These include the famous "Bah, Humbag!" and "Then they better do it, and decrease the surplus population!". To make the film better, Robert is a well-experienced film director and knows how to make the film perfect.
While the movie is dark, it offers a great sense of humour that will entertain the audience in some scenes, including the Ghost of Christmas Present's jolly personality and hilarious laugh. This was performed well by the always-great Jim Carrey, who also portrays Scrooge and the other Christmas ghosts.
Alan Silvestri's music score was marvellous as he uses a brilliant combination of emotional weight, cheerful Christmas music, and a sinister tone that establish the movie's dark story and fits each scene flawlessly. For example, when Scrooge travels with the first two ghosts, it has fast paced exciting music to give the audience an adventurous feeling and how it fits their calming personalities. However, the music gets gloomier when the final ghost appears as it reflects the consequences of Scrooge's selfish acts if he does not change and the ghost's dark motivations.
Despite how much I enjoyed the film, the only complaint I would say is that it can sometimes be too dark for children, who are easily scared during certain scenes. These include Jacob Marley's ghost scenes and the death of The Ghost of Christmas Present. If I made this film, I would change the age rating to a 12/PG-13 for its dark tone and mature themes.
The movie's target audience are older children and families because there are some dark moments in the film that are unsuitable for younger viewers, explores more complicated themes, and want to get introduced into Charles Dickens' work by viewing a film adaption of his well-known novella.
In conclusion, A Christmas Carol (2009) is still an wonderful Christmas movie that stays true to the source material by maintain its memorable story and great themes. However, it needs to think more about its target audience and age rating because of its dark tone. In my opinion, this is worth the watch. This will get you into Charles Dickens!
