Elori

This movie is based on the "Moses myth", but for supposedly being a fantasy movie about stories of the imagination, the movie is so dull it will kill you with boredom.

There's no fun here, no sense of excitement and no emotion whatsoever. The horribly miscast actors are going through the motions, the cinematography is murky and ugly, and that goes for the CG special effects too.

This film is symptomatic of how misguided modern Hollywood is. There would have been a million ways to make a better and more fun fantasy movie about the "Moses myth", but Ridley Scott seems to have found the way to make the most boring interpretation imaginable.

The outset of the movie sounds pretty imaginative and interesting. Imagine a museum where everything really comes alive at night! Unfortunately, the writers got about that far and then went on autopilot, relying on some of the most trite Hollywood movie clichés to fill the rest of the movie. The living museum is reduced to a popcultural mishmash of stereotypes, both about museums and the cultures and information they portray, for the sake of uninspired slapstick comedy. Look, it's a monkey! It steals keys and pees on the nightguard! What hilarity!

The best parts of the movie are the devious geezer trio Dick van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs, plus the unpleasant museum head played by Ricky Gervais, illustrating his skill with mannerisms and carrying unspoken dialogue. However, much too long is spent on the badly miscast Robin Williams, carrying some of his most stilted and unnatural dialogue of any of his roles.

The movie is not worth seeing for well-done bit parts, when most of the film is such an insufferable waste of time and an insult to any average viewer's intelligence.

How could they make "A Christmas Carol" into such a cold, uninspiring tale? It feels as if all the emotion has been taken out, from the characters, the story, and even the fantastical elements. The voice actors are badly miscasts, especially Jim Carrey himself, who feels out of place all the time and slips into some mannerisms a few times. The use of horrid 3D computer graphics certainly does not help: the characters look like ghastly marionettes, inhuman and unfeeling. The point of the story is completely missed, as is Scrooge's personal development, and even the ending, which was supposed to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. Just compare to Pixar's "Up" and the range of deep emotion there, and then look at what a cold and hollow tale this 3D "Christmas Carol" is. I'm pretty sure this vast misstep will soon be forgotten, as it's so badly misdirected to ever become a true Christmas classic.