Review of A Christmas Carol (2009) by Kyle20Ellis — 20 Mar 2022

I love animation and I love Christmas films. Not to mention that I adore Dickens' story. 2009's A Christmas Carol mayn't quite be a classic for the Yuletide season, but it is a worthy film and one of the more loyal adaptations of the story, maintaining not just the details but the spirit as well.

CONS: There are few cons actually here. I did feel the film was too long, I personally think 80 minutes is a perfect length for telling the story, this was nearly 100 minutes. In order to do this, while they were musically and visually stunning, there were two scenes that didn't quite work for me and could have been omitted, one being the extinguishing of Ghost of Christmas Past, the other being the carriage chase. As impressive as they are, they don't enhance the storytelling much and feel odd in their placement too. The film does occasionally drag as well, particularly towards the end.

PROS: However, there is much to enjoy here. The story has a classic feel in how it is told, and it has the heart and sentiment of the original story. The dialogue is delightful and almost word-from-word from the original story as well. There are three outstanding things though. One is the vocal cast, Gary Oldman is excellent as is Colin Firth, but it is Jim Carrey's show all the way, while his distinctive acting style is here it is also naturally understated. Two is the score, I like Alan Silvestri a lot, and his score here is beautiful and compliments the spirit and meaning of Christmas wonderfully. Most impressive are the visuals, which in the colours, backgrounds, 3D effects and character designs are outstanding.

So all in all, while not a movie to treasure perhaps, it is definitely worth watching.