Christmas cracker; Jim Carrey steals the show in remake of Dickens' tale Scrooge.

Bah humbug? No, not at alle in fact this adventure in 3D can lay claim to be the best ever screen version of Charles Dickense' classic festive ghost story.

It's such an impressive take on the timeless tale because the hi-tech wonders employed by director Robert Zemeckis allow the screen to be filled with the magic and wonder that previously only truly existed in Dickens' imagination.

After The Polar Express and Beowulf, A Christmas Carol is the latest performance capture movie from Zemeckis and it shows just how far the technique has advanced.

The computerised brilliance creates a living, breathing Victorian London and means we witness the most effective depiction of the three spirits - the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet To Come - that are visited on the miserable Ebenezer Scrooge.

The ghosts are seen as an Irish floating candle, a big, bearded and boisterous, belly-laughing festive figure and an eerie grim reaper-like spectre.

And the use of performance capture means all of these roles are enthusiastically tackled by Jim Carrey, who must have the energy of an army of actors since he also portrays Scrooge through a handful of different ages.

Carrey's main character, of course, is Scrooge the skinflint, who at times bears a remarkable resemblance to Old Steptoe.

Right from the start we see that the casting of Carrey is right on the money as he makes it clear that Scrooge is an unlovable, penny-pinching wretch.

As the movie opens with the funeral of his business partner, Jacob Marley, Scrooge reluctantly pays for the funeral and then nicks the two one pence pieces that cover the eyes of the corpse. BY "Tuppence is tuppence," he says in a bid to justify the thoroughly mean and tasteless act.

But the cold-hearted Scrooge is in for a rude awakening as Marley's ghost - a frightening figure who drags chains behind him - warns what will happen if he doesn't change his ways.This message is driven home by the trio of Yuletide spirits who remind Scrooge of the decent youngster he once was and how he became transformed into such a wizened miser.

While the film is a tour de force for the talents of Carrey it's not a one-man show.

There is a touching performance from Gary Oldman as Bob Cratchit and a couple of comic cameos from Bob Hoskins as Fezziwig, the jovial boss of the young Scrooge and Old Joe, a rat-hunting rag and bone man.

The attention to detail is impressive and to his credit although Zemeckis sprinkles comedy into the mix - the most humorous sequence is when Scrooge is shrunk to a tiny size and speaks in a high-pitched voice - he has avoided creating a cute version of the famous tale.

The story has more power because ghosts are grisly and ghoulish but a consequence of that is that some scenes are a bit too scary for very young viewers. For everyone else this should be a Christmas must-see.

CAPTION(S):

MISERY GUTS& Jim Carrey excels as Scrooge SPOOKED& One of the ghosts has a word with Scrooge to make him change his ways