Charles Dicken’s classic story comes to 3D life in director Bob Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol. Using the same cutting edge technology behind The Polar Express and Beowulf the filmmakers have recreated 19th century London in staggering detail with a visually unique take on the original tale.

When his old partner dies Ebenezer Scrooge retreats even further into his miserly shell, caring for nothing in the world except his wealth. But one Christmas Eve he is confronted by the terrifying, chained spirit of his deceased friend and told that he will be visited by three spirits who will force him to examine how his life led him down this despicable path. As the night wears on, Scrooge must face up to the trials of his past, the loneliness of his present and the terrible truths of his possible future.

Zemeckis reigns in some of his more over the top visuals in A Christmas Carol, with few of the outlandish moments of physics defying action which made The Polar Express more roller coaster ride than movie. But he still has a lot of fun with the manifestations of the spirits: Marley’s grim, chained spectre has never looked better (or more frightening) and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a wonderfully rendered thing of shadow and menace. This consistently nightmarish tone is one of the biggest surprises in the film, with some truly macabre moments and a few vivid jumps which wouldn’t be out of place in a full-fledged horror film. Regardless of the PG rating, young kids will probably be running to hide from the ghoulish visuals. 

And that is the problem with A Christmas Carol, the very young will be terrified and there’s next to no subtext for the adults to hold on to. Likewise, the technology is still impressive but the startling pseudo-real effect has already been overused and the film actually does little enough with its 3D trappings. By the time the action ratchets up impressively with the arrival of the third spirit it may be too late to recapture our attention.

Carrey (who takes on half the roles in the film) does well with Scrooge but his lisping, fey, cod-Irish first spirit is by turns creepy and laughable. Colin Firth shouts during most of his scenes and Gary Oldman is a strangely dwarfish caricature of himself as Cratchet, while his take on Tiny Tim is just ill-advised. The performance captured characters are sometimes remarkably lifelike, but work best when they are a little more stlylised, like the craggy and spectre-thin Scrooge.

Though technically impressive, this latest revamp of A Christmas Carol does nothing to update the tale and even seems to slightly miss the point of the original. In slavishly reproducing the situations and dialogue of Dickens’ story, the moral lesson gets a little lost and somehow the joyful celebration of Christmas is also given short shrift. And it lacks the playful air of Beowulf or the (then) stunning technology of The Polar Express.  The best Christmas films leave you glowing with yuletide spirit as you exit into the winter chill, into streets lined with shoppers and decorations and home to friends and family to celebrate the season. This version left our nerves jangled, our emotions unstirred and our Christmas spirit unseasonably quashed.