Review of The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) by Jordan P — 02 Jan 2019

This movie is so incredibly good for reasons that I'm not sure I could fully disclose here. The storytelling style itself is clever and completely captivating throughout the film, Michael Caine is the best actor to ever step into a Christmas role, and the narrative is so instructive that all ages from child to adult can benefit from applying the things taught here.

The reason this is the greatest Muppet film, and perhaps the greatest Christmas film, is because of the darkness that is ever present in the film until the very last sequence. Even in the scenes where the Cratchit family sing about their blessings you can see that behind their smiles they are dealing with true dark times, such as the impending death of their son, their financial situation and being able to keep their family fed, having Bob almost always gone in order to provide in the first place, and even keeping themselves warm so their other children survive.

Optimism is really the balm of hopeless situations, because worrying doesn't fix anything and looking for silver linings tends to help you find more opportunities in the process. The set pieces presented here are absolutely fantastic and everything feels natural, except the houses that are abstract and show a creative art that you don't really expect in the background of the film.

This movie also contains some of the most philosophically relevant musical poetry ever presented in a film, "As freedom comes from giving love, so prison comes with hate," being just one example.

The score is emotionally gripping and this film's cinematography is of the kind that will forever stand the test of time.