edward-grabczewski

I've tried to enjoy the related "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" films of previous years and found the character of Willy Wonka in each film too odd to empathise with. So my expectations for this film weren't much better.

Things didn't look good when I asked my three kids (aged 11, 13 and 15) if they'd like to see the film and my 13 year old told me that she'd seen the trailer and said "no". So that left just three of us (my wife was at work).

This turned out to be the best (and only) film we saw in the cinema at Christmas. I was impressed by the storyline, the acting, the special effects and the tasteful way in which musical numbers were injected into the plot without detracting from the overall effect. Every aspect of the film was well-judged as well as the comedic effect (for British actors at least) of seeing some favourite actors portrayed in funny roles. Also, the writers exhausted the lexicon on chocolate puns! Hugh Grant steals the limelight a bit with his characterisation of an Umpa-Lumpa.

Don't forget to stay and watch the titles.

I've seen many versions of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" over the years, and I include "It's a Wonderful Life" since it follows a similar theme, but none of them have stuck home emotionally until I saw "A Christmas Karen", which is not only funny but struck home emotionally when it counts. Thinking of some of the previous films, most take themselves too seriously or fail to be effective in telling the story in a way that enganged me emotionally. I might want to watch them once or twice but only because there was no better versions to watch. "It's a Wonderful Life" is a little too frantic and overacted to chine with my emotions, however using humour and pathos in succession seems to work. I'll buy this film and add it to my large DVD collection of Christmas films to watch in favour of the alternative versions. Well done production team for a well made and unanticipated success! I'm still wating for an entirely serious verson of the story that hits home.

It's hard to believe that so many people made this film and yet nobody asked the question "Why cares about this story?".

I don't like having to work too hard trying to figure out the plot or what motivates the characters into action, but after ten minutes I was still asking myself "what's the point of this movie?".

For me the animation was fine. Had the story been a good one then I wouldn't care about how realistic the characters are portrayed - it's a kid's animation so I don't expect it to look lifelike.

But I did wonder about the language. I don't think my 4, 7 and 9 year old kids know what "flailing" means, together with a script and story that seemed a little beyond their reach. Having said that, they all sat and watched the film, happily eating their popcorn and apples and said they enjoyed it. So what do parents know?