A Turkey Day Movie Review

Or, how I spent my Thanksgiving Day.

First things first, I didn’t have anything close to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. First at just before Noon, my youngest and I had bison chili. Not your normal fair at all for Thanksgiving. My youngest had kennel duty at school for the afternoon, so we needed to get to Fort Wayne early in the afternoon. Fun stuff for a Thanksgiving day. I would assume that this is the norm for students in a Vet Tech program.

While in Fort Wayne, my daughter and I caught the 3d Disney Movie “A Christmas Carol”. First things first, The 3D for this show was awesome. I’m a very big fan of Dickens “A Christmas Carol” There are many movie versions of this story and I’ve enjoyed most of them.

First No Spoiler if you know the story. There will be spoilers later.

They kept the main story of “A Christmas Carol”. All of the important aspects of the story. The animation was very well done and the characters were well maintained. For periods of time, I actually forgot that this was an animated movie. As I said earlier, I really liked the 3D effects. Most of them were well done to make the movie have depth. A few made you feel like you were in it. There were also a few that looked like they were just done because they could. I would have rather had those cut out, but I guess that is what some people expect in a 3D movie. Main result, if you like the Dickens’ story, you will like this story. If you like 3D animation, you will probably like the show. I would definitely pay the extra amount to see the 3D version.

******************* Spoilers Follow ***************

I wondered how this would work out. I didn’t see the necessity of doing this story in 3D or as an animated movie. I’ve been wondering about that since I first saw the theater trailers. I had many reservations before I went to see it. I was pleased that they did not destroy the story. Now for picking and praising. First, I thought the characters were very well done. The initial 3D effect at the start of the movie hooked me from the beginning. I liked the candle effect in front of the window. Other effects I liked were the snowflakes, flying over/through London and the Ghost of Christmas Past.

I liked the way the effects were used during the Ghost of Christmas Present was wonderful. Actually, I was impressed by this vision of the ghostly visitations. It was also a very good way to use the 3D effects. Not many complaints through the first two ghosts, except may the ‘rocket’ effect at the end of the Ghost of Christmas Past’s visit. One of my first problems with 3D for 3D only.

My biggest problem with the movie were the 3D for 3D only. While the initial tour of London was almost there, the tour of historical London is a great way to set the movie. I next noticed it at the end of the Ghost of Christmas Past. There were one or two times during the Ghost of Christmas Present’s visit, but they didn’t bother me nearly as much. But during the scenes with the Ghost of Christmas future, it seemed like these 3D effects were overwhelming. In fact they added quite a bit to the story to get these 3D effects in. That is the only reason I can think of that they added the Death Coach chase and the shrinking of Scrooge. Parts of the movie were really not needed and if they lasted much longer, I think the movie could have been ruined for me. Without the 3D, I don’t think I would have liked that part at all. I am, of course, a Dickens’ fan and I don’t think you need to add to an already wonderful story.