Robert Zemeckis has always been a filmmaker divided against itself, the techno-geek at war with the narrator. His latest work, “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” (Charles Dickens – degraded!), Is an extravaganza of colliding intentions. But just when it is abandoned, usually in the midst of its latest, strange trip gyroscoping exciting sequence, Zemeckis reminds him that he is capable of visual dynamism certainly improved but not entirely dictated by how the digital landscape clearly adores.
In addition, Jim Carrey is good as Scrooge. There is surprisingly little stunt performance. (He plays all the ghosts key as well, and Scrooge in various stages of his young life.)
I’m all over the place on this all-over-draft, although I prefer the previous motion capture Zemeckis animated films, “The Polar Express” (2004) and “Beowulf” (2007). The really gave me chills. Why digital is bearded Anthony Hopkins in “Beowulf”? I still wake up screaming over that one. I can not spend all that time in the mysterious valley between wrist and approaches as the inhumanity of humanity without starting to sweat.
With “A Christmas Carol” at least Zemeckis takes hold of a story that flies and hovers over time, so the magician-bang air raids in 1840 in London are not entirely discordant. In many respects, Zemeckis adaptation remains faithful to its source. The best scenes are the quietest: From the beginning, as we follow Scrooge through his small, venal rhythms, Carrey (digital equipped with a chin and nose of approximately equal length) plays the character’s meanness and loneliness for always. It is a thoughtful and honest performance, which is a strange thing to say about a movie so hung in visual falsehood.
The actors do their parts and then Zemeckis and his fellow lab technicians take over. Gary Oldman delivers the performance of raw fodder for Bob Cratchit (which, digitally manipulated, it looks like Joe E. Brown) and Tiny Tim. Bob Hoskins appears as Mr. Fezziwig, among others. Zemeckis has made since “The Polar Express” in terms of facial expressiveness. And yet I remain cool to the motion capture gender. Or rather, it is still cold for me. I always feel like eyes are wrong, too Botoxed forehead and teeth were stolen from George Washington.
This is what I would Zemeckis: I’d like to study a variant of motion capture technology that takes us outside the valley more mysterious and bold, unrealistic fantasies. Individual passages of most fluids in “A Christmas Carol” – not an appealing subject, but just moments street level – reveal a director who knows how to keep your wandering, restless camera eye story details on the right. Half the time it seems to be thinking ahead to the next step in another commercial life of the film, ie the inevitable Disneyland and Disney World attractions. The other half of the time, he is doing what it supposed to do as a film narrator. And even if you do not respond personally to your style, you admire the tenacious craftsman behind it.
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