It is most amusing reading through the user comments just to amass the influx of differing thoughts and critiques, there seem to be equal number of 1/10s as 10/10s. Just the same, I'm wrapping up my "Christmas Commitment Viewings". Here is my December 10, 2010 review, my final December with my uncle, this one of our only Christmas films together.
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As far as I'm concerned Alistair Sim is head and tails the towering Scrooge, but I sure as hell admire Jim Carrey for giving it the ole college try for he not only tackles the lead miser role(and the other various ages of Scrooge from a young boy to an adult version who chose gold over Robin Wright's Belle) but also the three ghosts! I think the weakness of this particular version is that none of the others(except maybe a jolly Bob Hoskins as Fezzywig)in the cast really stand out. Oldman is both Cratchet, Tiny Tim, and Marley(Marley is a gnarly grotesque creation, even his broke jaw comes loose and he must speak for a bit with it out of sorts!)! Colin Firth really doesn't leave a lasting impression as Fred to tell you the truth, though the part merely has him addressing Scrooge at the beginning when he invites him to dinner and to wish him merry. Robert Zemeckis(who also helmed THE POLAR EXPRESS which utilized the same computer animated process)aims for spectacle, going for broke in regards to the 3D grandeur, including Scrooge in flight and being chased by Death's horse and carriage. I actually think Carrey's Christmas Present was as good as his Scrooge, if not better. My favorite part was the deterioration of Christmas Present, a warning of how time was drawing to a close for Ebenezer, soon reducing him to a laughing skeleton! My least favorite was when Scrooge is reduced to the size of a rat..this maybe went a bit overboard in trying to create a sense of terror for the Scrooge character, but seemed solely aimed as a meaningless excuse to add one extra 3D sequence. I will say that this version of the Dickens classic covers all the bases pretty much for the exception of the Christmas Yet to Come which is usually shorter than Scrooge's other "time trips" with plenty of emphasis on the Reaper's ghoulish silhouette and how death is out to get Ebenezer. Carrey, as far as I'm concerned, hits all the high notes and I plan, if I continue to live in years to come, to sit down and watch this version just because of his work. I have to imagine that this version is best seen in IMAX theaters, which lessens its impact on the smaller screen.
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