Visually stunning and utterly engaging this version of A Christmas Carol is second only to Alastair Sim's Scrooge IMHO. A complete treat to watch over the Christmas holidays.
It's dark and scary in parts and not quite Disney - which is not a bad thing. Rated PG so at least parents get some warning of what their children can expect but we must remember that it was Dickens' intention that his readers feel afraid at certain points. It's part of the whole experience.
My only minor quibbles would be the unnecessary "action" sequences. Scrooge shooting to the moon was a superfluous departure (no pun intended) from the book but it was the overly long chase sequence and miniaturization that most glaringly took liberties with the source material for the cinematic sake of it. The time would have been better spent on developing other scenes from the book. You can't improve on Dickens' original but for some reason Hollywood always seems to find it necessary to fix what isn't broken.
Overall though, it is lovely to watch, heart-warming and life and love affirming.
Highly recommended.
It's dark and scary in parts and not quite Disney - which is not a bad thing. Rated PG so at least parents get some warning of what their children can expect but we must remember that it was Dickens' intention that his readers feel afraid at certain points. It's part of the whole experience.
My only minor quibbles would be the unnecessary "action" sequences. Scrooge shooting to the moon was a superfluous departure (no pun intended) from the book but it was the overly long chase sequence and miniaturization that most glaringly took liberties with the source material for the cinematic sake of it. The time would have been better spent on developing other scenes from the book. You can't improve on Dickens' original but for some reason Hollywood always seems to find it necessary to fix what isn't broken.
Overall though, it is lovely to watch, heart-warming and life and love affirming.
Highly recommended.