Scrooge: A Christmas Carol – Film Review

On Christmas Eve, miserly businessman Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future in the hope that he will learn the error of his ways.

Before I clicked play on Stephen Donnelly‘s brand new computer-animated musical fantasy film Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, I was hoping for a holiday miracle – that this film would be wildly different than any other adaptation of this classic tale and that it wouldn’t feel outrageously familiar and have no real identity of its own.

Sadly, that miracle didn’t come to fruition.

This is not an awful movie by any means, but it’s not one that I’d necessarily label as good, either. It’s just kind of one of those movies where you could throw it on in the background while you do some work or some chores around the house. It’s not the kind of movie that’ll pull you right into the story.

How many times are we going to have to sit and watch yet another retelling of A Christmas Carol? It’s getting to the point now where I’m starting to question whether or not I still like the classic story, to begin with anymore just because of how tired and overdone it’s become.

This film’s script doesn’t do anything different per se except add some admittedly incredibly catchy and enjoyable songs throughout. Donnelly and his co-writer Leslie Bricusse don’t inject anything terrible into the script, but they also didn’t do anything to make it stand out at all. This is the most generic animated Christmas movie in a while.

There are worse Christmas movies this year and certainly worse animated movies, but it’s definitely frustrating to see the same old thing done time and time again. The voice cast, though, is quite strong thankfully. Luke Evans does a solid job in the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge, as does Jessie Buckley as Isabel Fezziwig, Scrooge’s ex-fiancée.

It’s also a genuinely gorgeous movie with tons of outstandingly great shots throughout. It’s actually kind of amazing how stunning the film looks while also brandishing an exceptionally bland script. At least you can sit back and admire just how great it all looks, even though you won’t find yourself being sucked in by the story.

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol is a tiresome adaptation of the classic holiday tale that doesn’t add anything fresh or exciting to the table, despite looking excellent and featuring a highly talented voice cast.