Chimerical Beast

Okay, so, your mileage may vary on this one. I really wish we could give stars for various aspects. First, the good. The actors are phenomenal! One might say they're out of character compared to the original, but they do an excellent job of playing the parts as written for this version. Cinematography is great, and the setting is beautifully done. It feels like you're in 19th century London. Stylistic choices like the shapeshifting Christmas Past were generally good ideas. The special effects were well done and didn't feel clunky 99% of the time. The special took time to look at the consequences of Scrooge miserly behavior, and it is heartbreaking, but enriches the story in my opinion. Scrooge makes a choice that is certainly interesting, but vaguely distressing if you consider what it might mean happens post-story. Now for the not so good. Dear God, this was bleak. Scrooge is played as nearly irredeemable (nearly), and you don't get the same catharsis at his turn that you get in the original. Also, heads up for off screen child rape and on screen sexual assault. And if you're hoping for characters to process that...not so much. I won't deny that THAT scene had a grisly logic to it (the abused frequently turn out like their abusers, and a grasp for power and control at the expensive of another, etc). But really? Did we really need that? Did it need to go quite so far? Or couldn't they have found a better way to show lady skin? A character uses past abuse as a justification for their behavior, which is totally wrong, but the way it was handled toes the line of telling said character to "get over it." Also, slightly tasteless in that survivors are sometimes accused of making victims of themselves and need to get over it, and THOSE kind of abusers will sometimes use (frequently if not always false) claims of abuse to justify doing the exact same thing. So, if you're in it for the acting and setting, and there are some truly beautiful scenes (both visually and narratively), and a good tolerance for mostly relevant to the story sexual violence, it might be worth a watch. But just be aware that it might leave you a little unsatisfied regarding themes of forgiveness and redemption. If any of those are deal breakers, you might just want to pass on this one.