A Christmas Carol

Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.

Zemeckis's motion-capture adaptation of Dickens lands in genuinely mixed territory, with critics largely agreeing that the 3-D visuals are technically impressive while disagreeing sharply over whether they serve or smother the story. Those who loved it found the spectacle transporting; those who didn't felt the film's emotional core was buried under digital showmanship, leaving a faithful but curiously cold retelling.