Scrooge: A Christmas Carol has actors Luke Evans, Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Fra Fee, Trevor Dion Nicholas, Giles Terera, and Jonathan Pryce as voice actors for characters Scrooge, Past, Isabel, Bob Crotchet, Harry Huffam, Present, Tom Jenkins and Jacob Marley, respectively. Based on Charles Dickens’ novel ‘A Christmas Carol’, the Netflix film is an animated adaptation of the 1970 film Scrooge. Stephen Donnelly has directed and also penned the screenplay.
The runtime is of 100 minutes approximately. The synopsis reads, “On a cold Christmas Eve, selfish miser Ebenezer Scrooge has one night left to face his past — and change the future — before time runs out.”
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol Movie Contains No Spoilers
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022) begins with the popular ’Tis the season to be Jolly’ song, where Harry, many kids, and the town are excited about Christmas Eve. But there’s Scrooge, Harry’s uncle, an older man who despises the festival. The cranky older man lives with his dog and lacks politeness while talking to people.
Scrooge’s hatred towards Christmas is such that he refuses to have dinner with his nephew Harry and his family. There’s a reason why they don’t enjoy the festival anymore. In the Netflix film, he has to face his past for the last time and make peace with it. It all happens in a scary way, where Scrooge gets a chance to revisit his past and see what it was like.
We already have a Grinch who hates Christmas, and there are multiple movies made on it already. There’s one movie made once every few years. So no wonder someone thought that. It’s time to tell Scrooge’s story too. But is the film up to the mark? Well, not really.
The purpose of watching Christmas movies in the comfort of our homes is to chill. The Netflix movie has a promising opening, but it gets more puzzling as it delves deeper into our protagonist’s past. The complex storyline falls short of holding our attention for the whole. The songs are intended to add excitement to the premise. However, not all of them managed to do that.
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A Christmas Carol’s Scrooge’s tale is soulless and has only a few sentimental moments. Everything else isn’t really pleasant, except for a few touching scenes involving his childhood and his employee Cratchit.
Actor Luke Evans voiced Scrooge and conveyed the emotions of anger and pain quite well. Olivia Colman and Johnny Flynn have given voices to some prominent characters in the story, and they’re good. Coming to animation, the Christmas scenes light up the entire scene. But the waxed woman part is too creepy for children to watch.
Netflix’s Scrooge: A Christmas Carol Review: Final Thoughts
The latest Netflix holiday film is underwhelming overall. Despite being musical, the songs are among the plot’s weaker elements. The storyline lacks the warmth and feeling that one experiences while viewing such cheerful movies. There are only a handful of enjoyable moments that one would treasure all the way to the end.
There are better Christmas or non-Christmas animated movies available on Netflix that will leave you with a big smile and happy tears in the end. This one is a miss!
The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Are you planning to watch the film? Or have you already watched it? Do let us know your thoughts about it in the comments section below.
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I agree. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of my favorite stories, but the Netfllix adaption reminded me of the 2016’s Ghostbuster movie. The jokes fell flat, the changes in “the lore” really got on my nerves and he characters were a collection of cliches without soul. It’s a poverty stricken London in the late 19th century and we have light shows, singing, the typical netflixing of the citizens? Combinw this with a truly awful dialogue and an unfitting soundtrack and there it is: Netflix’s Scrooge.
If you want to watch a good animated version, watch Disney’s A Christmas Carol and skip this one.