Robert Zemeckis has done it again. In A Christmas Carol, he has used motion capture technology to present a lovely holiday confection. Charles Dickens' tale of greed and redemption gets a millennial makeover in this faithful and respectful retelling. Zemeckis' dalliance with animation that he started in Who Framed Roger Rabbit through films such as Polar Express and Beowulf moves to yet another masterly level in this film.
Victorian England comes alive and so do the characters with an incredible attention to detail — from the dank cobblestones to the hair on the lovely Belle's head. The set pieces are unbelievable, and one cannot but help marvel at the sureness of Zemeckis' eye and hand. The ballroom scene where he orchestrates all these whirling dancers without a single misstep or the thrilling chase scene that culminates in a bottomless grave or the flight over Victorian rooftops are all exhilarating examples of the triumph of art and technology. Talking of art and technology, special mention should be made of Jim Carrey who plays eight roles with amazing felicity. And when you think that he just has his voice to discriminate among the characters, it is all the more awe-inspiring. He plays the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, Scrooge as a young boy, a teenager, a young man and a middle-aged man. Carrey also plays the fascinatingly-realised Ghost of Christmas Past, the jolly Ghost of Christmas Present and the creepy Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. There is Robin Wright-Penn voicing Scrooge's sister Fan and his sweetheart Belle. The vastly underrated Gary Oldman is in scintillating form here playing Scrooge's long-suffering assistant, Bob Cratchit and Jacob Marley, Scrooge's former business partner, who revisits Scrooge as a spirit to warn him of the dangers of his way of life. Oldman also plays Tiny Tim, Cratchit's ailing child who believes firmly in the spirit of Christmas. The redoubtable Colin Firth plays Scrooge's happy-go-lucky nephew, Fred who believes in the power of love and life over lucre. There is everything to like about this film from its storybook frames to its superior animation, excellent voice work and of course its well-beloved classic roots. And, finally, how can anyone be so cold-hearted as to turn away from such a Christmassy story?
