My partner recently has been keen to try and get me to watch more movies that are classed as ‘common shared experiences’ that somehow passed me by, and with this being the festive season, that can only mean one thing…The Muppets Christmas Carol.

I had seen grabs of this film over the years, my cousins grabbed it when it first came out on VHS and I saw a chunk of it then, I saw clips of it over the years and thought it looked fine enough. But the fact I hadnt actually seen the whole thing from beginning to end before made my partner recoil in horror as it was pretty much an annual tradition in their household when it first came out (Though, she still maintains that ‘Muppets Treasure Island’ is in fact, the best Muppets movie…A fact I find hard to dispute.)

And so, ‘The Muppets Christmas Carol’! an adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel but slightly more sanitized for children and much MUCH more Muppity! and…its actually pretty good fun! I dont think its *quite* as good as the Alistair Simm version for my money, but I really enjoyed this retelling.

The muppets humour, I initially thought would be quite jarring, actually gels remarkably well here. With some great aside gags and subtle multi layer bits amid some surprisingly toned down chaos given the Muppets remit.

We watched the ‘Full’ cut of the film with a deleted song and scene or two readded in, and I think that really helps the flow of the production (clocking in at 89 minutes) Having not seen the more widely available cut, I cant comment comparitively. But having seen this, I feel like it hits most of the key points pretty spot on, and it flows between the acts effortlessly and enjoyably.

The direction work is rock solid, surprisingly probably one of the best looking adaptations of a christmas carol from a visual aspect, the cast/muppet direction is near perfect with some fantastic placements and some near perfect dialogue drops really pushing this thing up.

The cine too is a real step up too, with some striking and memorable compositional choices, strong colour use and incredible effects for the time (the fade up to white transition effect to allow for scene changes in the christmas past segment is a personal favourite) its incredible really how they were able to really bring the muppets (full body) to life in this one. Though, I do feel the ghost of christmas past puppet from this film will live on in my nightmares for the foreseeable.

The editing is rock solid, no complaints from me, it really seems to fully understand the assignment.

In fact, the only issue I have is with the performance of Scrooge himself. Not to diss Michael *one punch* Caine here…his performance as the Miser is superb…when he’s BEING miserly… during that time he comes across as wonderfully cold, and slowly warms emotion into his physical performance and delivery. I cant fault him there…no, I have a problem with his ‘good scrooge’ performance. Problem for me is, I just didnt fully go with him on how he chose to play it.

For me? I feel like the ‘revelation’ final act for scrooge should bring with it a layer of giddy mania, the idea that he’s just been struck by the bolt of lightning resolve that he’s going to be good, the possibilities that brings with it and the fact that the future is very much in his hands. I feel like a performance like that requires a ‘racing thoughts’ type play. i want my scrooge bouncing off the walls, dancing down the street and alive behind the eyes with the feeling that he still has time and world to make his own…

Caine…for me, doesnt deliver that. He still looks fairly dead eyed for most of the big closer and having a bit of a pep in his step and a slight smile isnt convincing me of anything, letalone the power of 3 hauntings and a dead child having hit him like a freight train. His performance in that finale screams ‘yay…christmas.’ and not ‘OH MY GOD! IM A CHANGED MAN! THE WORLD IS INCREDIBLE AND I LOVE EVERYTHING!!!’

And thats a shame, because it does rather leave a subdued ending on my plate, and not one that really won me over…Also; WHO in their right mind decided to give MICHAEL *Jellied Eeels/My old mans a dustman’ CAINE. a musical number?! jesus…

In either case, despite Caines final play and the fact the script does sand off some of the harsher edges of the christmas carol novel, I still had a really good time with this most muppity festive offering. I absolutely would watch it again, I think its very likely going to wind up in my ‘top 3’ adaptations of Dickens famous work. and god bless us everyone!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-muppet-christmas-carol/