Spirited

This is a modern musical take on the Christmas classic Dickensian tale, A Christmas Carol starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds.

It is well done with neat effects, lavish song and dance numbers aplenty, fresh comedic takes on love at the holidays and full of heart with all things family.

It is as fun as it is endearing.

There is a fascinating twist involving the origin of Ferrell's character and his actual identity in the film and from whence and where he actually came from.

Ryan Reynolds always does what he does best and does it here as well, and that is, basically being Ryan Reynolds. But here he also sings and dances and does both quite well.

My favorite song in this production is, Good Afternoon! This is an entertaining and funny bit as well as a running gag throughput the remainder of the movie which makes it all the more enjoyable.

Are there better movie versions of A Christmas Carol? Yes. Of course.

I love Disney's A Christmas Carol, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Scrooge, and Scrooged.

Are there better movie musicals? Absolutely.

La La Land. Moulin Rouge for starters.

But this is a nice, comedic Christmas musical very much in the holiday spirit and should be experienced as such.

And it should be seen and heard in the theater.

Maybe go to a matinee. Good Afternoon!

You hope for a Christmas movie to warm your heart like a cup of hot chocolate with marshmellows by the fireplace on a cold December night, but Spirited was more like entering the mall and hearing a Mariah Carey Christmas song for the 20th time of the season, so that's not so bad.

Will Ferrell & Ryan Reynolds' chemistry is what elevates it above average despite the lively & colorful musical numbers this felt slightly overdone & overcooked. At the end of the day, it made me laugh and made me feel happy. A fun modern twist on the classic story.

Another big positive is the music, for fans of musicals there is a lot to unpack here and surprisingly both Ferrell & Reynolds can hold their own singing and dancing. So I'm not going to be a Grinch here and say I didn't like it, because I did. It's just... a bit much at times.

6.5/10.

Not perfect but highly entertaining - I could watch Ryan and Will banter all day. Background dancers were amazing and the singing from the leads was decent, particularly Octavia and Ryan. Will struggled with the singing the most and had the most solos but it was easy to give him a pass because he embraces his character so well. The singing is still less annoying than the live singing in Cats. This doesn't have the memorable music of The Greatest Showman but the first big number will stick in your head. Definitely a feel good Christmas movie with an original take on the classic story.

Music C+ Dancing A+ Sets A+ Story B+

There isn't much deep things to say about this movie. It's a new spin on The Christmas Carol, it's a comedy musical and it's incredibly enjoyable.

In my opinion it starts a bit boring but then it really picked up when the story actually started to happen. It brings something original to the iconic Christmas Carol, it's funny and the songs are catchy and fun.

If you're looking to watch something Christmasy and you like musicals this is a must watch. Absolute delight for a family, even though I'm single and I watched it alone in my couch while eating crisps lol.

My only negative opinion is that the humour can be a bit cringy sometimes but that's okay, it made me laugh too! 8/10, I'd definitely recommend. Well maybe not if you don't like musicals and people bursting into songs or Christmas.

First things first-it's Will Ferrel and Ryan Reynolds. Why are so many self-proclaimed movie experts (and Ferrel and zReynolds "super fans") expecting an Oscar-winning movie?! The script was uneven, the singing in many cases not great, the songs were cheesy, and-shockingly-the plot was predictable. Jeez...the original story is going on 200 years old. What so many seem to forget is that the story is about redemption and they did a great job making a campy, happy, silly version. It is fun. I'm very glad I watched it. Time well spent for a classic theme, and I'll probably tech it again this week. And yes, Octavia Spencer is awesome.