Aiming to deliver the definitive screen adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 Yuletide classic, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis also takes the opportunity here to showcase his beloved motion capture. Carrey's certainly well cast as the miserly old Scrooge, finding both the tragedy and comedy in the original Christmas grinch. It's plain though that Zemeckis and his team spent a lot more time getting their leading character looking just right than they did worrying about the array of supporting players.
Colin Firth looks positively puffy and pale as Scrooge's eternally optimistic nephew, Fred, whilst Gary Oldman gets to play the dual role of not only old miserygut's long-suffering assistant Bob Cratchit but also his own, ailing, son, Tiny Tim. Verging on novelty, the fact that, after some stunting and plumping through computer trickery, Oldman's Cratchit looks uncannily like English actor Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky, Vera Drake) begs the simple question, why not simply cast Eddie Marsan?
THE VERDICT: Certainly a much better advertisement for this particular brand of computer wizardry than Zemeckis' two previous motion capture offerings – The Polar Express and Beowulf – but there's still the little problem here of the entire cast looking as though they came to the set that morning having just undergone extensive facial surgery. And they're heading back in tomorrow to get their eyes switched back on.
Oh, and they all still run like Ronnie Corbett.
Motion capture – or performance capture, as Zemeckis now wants to call this hybrid format, sensing the need for some PR spin – involves the actor having every inch of their body, and every possible expression their face can make, fed into a computer, so Zemeckis and his computer geeks can then dress up said actor's performance with whatever costume, face, body or age they so desire.
Which is why Tom Hanks was able to play seven different roles – from Santa to a small boy – in The Polar Express. And why the chunky Ray Winstone was able to play a buffed-up hunk in Beowulf. And why Jim Carrey can take on eight roles in A Christmas Carol. To little avail.
Still, there's no questioning the fact that this movie is, at times, visually stunning. Admirably too, it sticks close to the original book – which, given that we're dealing with a hard day's nightmare, could leave one or two young 'uns with a stutter. Or the need for fresh underwear. It's just that, beyond the spectacular visuals, this often plays more like George A. Romero's A Christmas Carol.
RATING: 2/5
Review by Paul Byrne