By Mittie Golding, Senior Editor
What is spooky, funny and magical at the same time? It’s a new animated version of the Charles Dickens classic holiday story, A Christmas Carol. This movie is the latest remake of Dickens’ classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserable miser who on Christmas Eve is taken on a life-changing adventure by three ghosts: the Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. When I review a movie I evaluate three things: the characters, the special effects, and the story. Regarding characters, I feel that Jim Carrey did a brilliant job of playing, through the marvel of animation, a total of 8 characters including Scrooge, as well as all three of the Ghosts. Gary Oldman also did a great job as Bob, Tiny Tim, and Marley. Although it is not really the actors’ fault, the characters are hard to connect to because of the animation. As a result, I can only give four stars to the acting in spite of fantastic performances. With regard to special effects, the 3D animation required viewers to don special glasses, and the effect was quite remarkable. The most realistic effect of 3D was the snow falling; I felt as though I could just reach out my hand, and grab a flake. Overall, I give the special effects my highest rating of five stars. Regarding the plot, I felt it was a poor adaptation of Dickens’ original story. I felt that at the end of the movie, there were still many questions that were left unanswered. I was most bothered by the scenes featuring the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. The Ghost of Christmas Present came across as very weird at first with a crazy laugh that wouldn’t end, and later he became very dark and spooky. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come was portrayed as the Grim Reaper, which I though was inappropriately scary for a family movie. As a result of these many problems, I give the plot only two stars. Taking everything into account, I give A Christmas Carol an overall rating of three stars, and can recommend it as an exciting holiday movie for most families with kids older than 8 years of age. Younger children may find some of the scenes too disturbing and confusing.
