With stories as well-known as this, which have been adapted so many times for the big and small screen, any director faces the challenge to offer something that is new and attractive, still capturing the message and spirit of the novel. Zemeckis really has made an effort trying to revive the book story, adding some elements that are in the novel and are not usually shown in other adaptations: the depiction of the spirit of the present Christmas, the persecution of the black carriage, and the "trip" on the bullet over the city, among others. The eagle views of the city are extremely painterly, realistic and beautiful. The attention to the details of the daily life of the characters, especially of the street life and inner door of the working class are great, too, and they give an idea of what real life was in 19th-century England. The animation is very realistic, created by "mocap", a 3D computerised filming technique in which the actors voice, movement and facial expression serve as a basis for those of the animated characters.
Jim Carrey plays Ebenezer mean Scrooge and the three spirits of Christmas. Gary Oldman is the good-hearted but poor clerk Bob Cratchit and Scrooge's former business partner. Robin Wright Penn plays young Scrooge's fiancée, Colin Firth plays Scrooge's nephew, while Fred Cary Elwes, Bob Hoskins, Ron Bottitta and other supporting actors give their voices and physique to multiple secondary characters.
Despite the all-star cast, the movie does not work as an ensemble and there is something indescribable missing from it. The fact that we see the actors quite realistically reflected in the faces of the animated characters leaves little to the imagination, as it does not create enough detachment between the actors and the character they play. If that was the aim, filming a non-animation movie would have been more appropriate. On the other hand, Carrey is not especially inspired in this performance, and we see the more sardonic mime-ish Carrey instead of the good serious dramatic actor he can be; I did not see Scrooge anywhere in this movie, but Jim Carrey's caricature of the character. The rest of the cast is OK in their respective performances, and only Gary Oldman shines in his sweet portray of Scrooge's clerk.
At another level, the tone of the movie is far from being "Christmassy" or dramatic as it is action packed, with the most important dramatic moments of the story just sketched and the action ones delightfully focused on. By doing so we lose the most important thing of Dickens' novel - its soul.
The movie is likeable, but never memorable, and will not move or touch anybody. To do so, the stunning visual animation should have been paired with a more dramatic touch, with a little bit of Christmas magic, which is not the case.
A wasted attempt to revive the magic story of Dickens' novel. Still enjoyable.
