A Christmas Carol Reviews Not Caroling Over Special Effects

A Christmas Carol reviews were raves when the book came out, but A Christmas Carol reviews are different for each new version. Some A Christmas Carol versions have rave reviews, others are slammed, and still others have nothing different to offer. The latest A Christmas Carol is certainly different, and many reviews disagree with how good that is. With Robert Zemeckis and Jim Carrey turning the story of Scrooge into a motion capture, IMAX 3D event, A Christmas Carol reviews are split on whether bigger visuals mean better.

Zemeckis is one of the great visual masters of the last 25 years, but his "motion capture" period is still divisive. The Polar Express and Beowulf got mixed reviews, even with Zemeckis's efforts to create new worlds with motion-capture technology. For his version of A Christmas Carol, he includes IMAX 3D in the mix - along with a lot of scenes where Scrooge is tossed around in the air.

A Christmas Carol reviews are split on how well this technology works for such a legendary tale. Even though this is his third time using these techniques, critics say Zemeckis still doesn't appear to have all the kinks worked out. Many A Christmas Carol review says that the characters look hollow, and cancels out the efforts of the human actors behind the technology.

The central human of this new Scrooge tale is Jim Carrey - who has a mixed track record with legendary literary characters, as Dr. Seuss fans know. But A Christmas Carol reviews mostly either praise Carrey for dialing it down, even with four characters, or say that he's actually dialed it down too much. Zemeckis's visuals also garner some blame for muting Carrey's efforts, though they make it possible for Gary Oldman to try multiple roles as well - even Tiny Tim.

Despite the Christmas Carol review split, the film should make a good deal of money, especially with IMAX 3D. Zemeckis may not have impressed all the critics with his visual approach, but by putting it in IMAX 3D, audiences shouldn't mind for the first weekend.

On the review front, Rotten Tomatoes will likely go back and forth in rating it fresh or rotten all day. A Christmas Carol reviews thus far are at a borderline 57%, with a 6 out of 10 rating. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus concludes that "Robert Zemeckis's 3D animated take on the Dickens classic tries hard, but its dazzling special effects distract from an array of fine performances from Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman."

A Christmas Carol is out now in IMAX 3D theaters, as the movies join the malls in celebrating Christmas in early November.

Sources

Rotten Tomatoes- "Disney's A Christmas Carol"

Entertainment Weekly- "A Christmas Carol set to bring some cheer to the box office"