Action comedy starring Ryan Reynolds as a disgraced professional bodyguard Michael Bryce being forced to protect his longtime enemy, hitman Darius Kincard (Samuel L Jackson). Kincaid is in prison but cuts a deal to give evidence against Belarusian dictator Vladislav Duckovich (Gary Oldman) in return for his (Kincaid’s) wife’s release from prison.
Lots of action, LOTS of violence and LOTS of swearing make this a highly entertaining and funny film. Reviews have been very mixed but I really liked it. Jackson is excellent as always, likewise Gary Oldman. Ryan Reynolds was also great as good-guy-in-a-bad-situation Bryce.
This review is about the 2009 animated version of A Christmas Carol, featuring the voices of Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman and Colin Firth amongst others.
Christmas time means Christmas movies…and what better choice than a movie based on one of the most famous and popular novels celebrating Christmas – Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’?
This version of the story remains very truthful to the book – Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley, who tells him to expect visits from three further ghosts. These ghosts – Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas yet to come, show Scrooge the error of his mean and penny pinching ways, and help him to secure a happier future both for himself and those around him.
I’ve read some negative reviews of this movie, but for my part I enjoyed it. Although it is animated, Bob Cratchitt and nephew Fred do look like the actors that voiced the parts (Gary Oldman and Colin Firth respectively). Jim Carrey however is unrecognisable either by sight or voice, but he plays the part of Scrooge very well. He also voices some of the other characters in the story, which I didn’t realise until after I had finished watching.
The story is, on the whole, very faithful to the book although there are a few special effects added in, which may not have been necessary, but did not detract from the story. There were also a number of scenes with comic relief.
Some people complain that it does not have the heart and soul of other better known versions of the story (Alistair Sim’s version being probably the most popular). That may be true, and it may possibly be due to the fact that it is animated, rather than having actual people appear on screen. However, it was a highly enjoyable movie to watch curled up on the sofa on a lazy afternoon, with an inches thick covering of snow outside – which is exactly how I saw it!
Gary Oldman is Jack Grimaldi, a dirty cop who is playing the FBI off against the Mafia. While the Feds want him to protect Russian gangster Mona Demarkov (Lena Olin), the Mafia want him to kill her and will pay him handsomely for doing so. However, Demarkov is a sexy femme fatale who proves to be more than a match for Grimaldi, and he ends up finding himself in all manner of dangerous situations, and unintentionally placing his girlfriend Sherri (Juliette Lewis) and his long suffering wife Natalie (Annabella Sciorra) in danger.
I felt that the movie took a little time to get going, but once it did, there was no let up! Oldman is superb as always; he is an actor that can seemingly portray any character and do it brilliantly. He seemed to have his tongue planted firmly in his cheek for much of the movie, perhaps acknowledging that certain scenes were ludicrous although very entertaining. Lena Olin also has great fun with the psychopathic Demarkov, although she spends much of the movie flashing her underwear and much of her body.
This movie is a thriller and definitely comes under the heading of Film Noir – however it does have some very comical undertones. Be aware though, that it does have a lot of sexual content and violence.
Year of release: 1993
Director: Peter Medak
Writer: Hilary Henkin
Main cast: Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Annabella Sciorra, Juliet Lewis
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