A Christmas Carol (2012) Reviews

• Stays to Faithful to the Source Material

  Christmas-Reviewer2017-09-23

  I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 Christmas MOVIES. BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. I HAVE NO AGENDA! I AM HONEST! Listen I am not opposed to people staying faithful to books when making a film out of that. However that is also a problem in some film adaptions. What works on page may not work in a film. This is one of those examples. In this version the 3 Ghost visit Scrooge on 3 Different Nights. This is the darkest, most ghostly version of this story ever made. It stays true to the original feel of the Dickens story, while turning up the creepiness but sound good it really is an epic failure here. It is not creepy its cheesy! Some of the actors are good some are not. The best film version of "A Christmas Carol" is the 1938 Edition. The B/W feel to the film really adds something to the film. See that version! Skip this one!

• This was terrible

  Sober-Friend2017-09-25

  Every year it seems someone makes another "Christmas Carol" movie. BE it for television or theatrical. There has been adaptions where the story is changed to "Modern Times" Some with a gender switch" and musical versions as well. I have not however seen this turned into a ballet or an "ON ICE" edition however I am sure one is in the works! We all know the story but this edition stays as close as they can to the book. This is the darkest, most ghostly version of this story ever made. It stays true to the original feel of the Dickens story, while turning up the creepiness. A range of well known Irish and English actors makes up the cast. On the anniversary of his business partner's death, Ebenezer Scrooge finds unwelcome company in the form of three spirits from Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come. The problem with this film is that the lighting is bad. The direction is terrible. It also spoken in "Elizabethan" and that is a huge distraction. As for the costumes there not "memorable". The acting was fine but nobody gives a stand out performance. If you are a parent and you want to introduce your children to the story then almost any other version is a better choice. Like another reviewer posted "I prefer the version from MGM" from 1938.

• Sorry This was Boring

  brianclarkdallas2017-09-30

  Out of all the screen adaptations I have seen of "A Christmas Carol" this is the most boring adaption Now here is the break down of the film from Amazon. This is the darkest, most ghostly version of this story ever made. It stays true to the original feel of the Dickens story, while turning up the creepiness. A range of well known Irish and English actors makes up the cast. On the anniversary of his business partner's death, Ebenezer Scrooge finds unwelcome company in the form of three spirits from Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come. I was hoping that this films "Darker Elements" would make this version stand out more but it doesn't. The sets are brightly let and thus taking away anything that might be scary. It doesn't help that they used "Old English" type of writing in this. This makes the film sounds smug and keeps the audience at an emotional distance! I have no idea how many adaptations have been made from this Charles Dickens tale but it is time to give it a rest.

• Not your "feel good" run out mill "Carol"!

  TManley-12018-12-29

  Low cost, very stage like, and dark as many have mentioned this performance seems to me to be collectible in its direct interpretation of the classic Dickens' story.

• Superb adaptation of Dickens classic with excellent performances by all the cast, marvellous cinematography, wonderful music and brilliant direction by Jason Figgis

  darrentravers12013-11-08

  I recently had the pleasure of watching Jason Figgis' wonderful film adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol." I was extremely touched by it's wonderful heart. The film has a superbly haunting musical score by Michael Richard Plowman which implores you from the beginning to really sit back and take in this new version. I loved the way that Mr Figgis took his time to set the scene with the opening credits as the music had a brilliant mix of haunting religious tone and eerie sense of evil while still sounding Christmassy. The film captured that sense of cold which I feel would have been be so truthful of the time it was set. The casting of all actors were spot on. Scrooge, played by a superb Vincent Fegan, looked as miserable as you could get without resorting to false makeup but still displayed at certain moments the ever so subtlest touch that within him was some good, however small it was at the time. I really liked the way that the Ghosts were presented, both in a visual and emotional sense and through the captivating performances by the actors involved including an excellent Bernadette Manton. Neill Fleming's performance as Bob Cratchit was brilliant as he gave his all in one truly touching emotional scene. His performance balanced beautifully in the film with his wife, portrayed by the superb Jane Elizabeth Walsh whose resentment, anger and bitterness was reserved for the character of Scrooge. They worked wonderfully together. I loved the performances of Scrooge's nephew and his wife - gentleness, poetry and beauty shot out from their eyes, body and soul. I think this film has wonderful poetic visions, haunting and uplifting images and the brilliant balance of cold and warmth of the heart. Jason Figgis truly deserves, in my opinion, a lot of praise for this superb film as he masterly weaves the utterly miserable Scrooge with the emotionally heartbreaking Bob Cratchit to create a tale which delicately balances the often coldness of one's actions with the heartfelt redemption of one's soul. Striking ghost-like imagery, splendind cinematography including one marvellously candle-lit room, and captivating acting performances all combine to create a poetic movie tapestry. I highly recommend this movie and really believe that Jason Figgis is a director to look out for in the future.