Mice get into the spirit of things

2 Crocodile Hunter

3 Black Knight

4 Minority Report

5 Stuart Little 2

6 Forty Days and Forty Nights

7 Spiderman

8 Scooby Doo

9 Christmas Carol — The Movie

10 Slackers

Simon Callow stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in Christmas Carol — The Movie, an animated adaptation of Charles Dicken’s sombre tale about how Scrooge’s miserly ways dictate his whole outlook on life.

His business involves buying up unfortunate peoples’ debts.

His bailiff, Joe (Robert Llewellyn) and his unscrupulous team, arrange for the debtors to be incarcerated, while they remove everything of value the debtors possessed, to recoup as much money and profit for Scrooge as possible, who then of course pays Joe for his work.

The tale is helped along by the antics of two mice called Gabriel and Ellen, and along with the ghost of Jacob Marley (Nicolas Cage) his deceased business partner, Ghost of Christmas Past (Jane Horrocks), and Ghost of Christmas Present (Michael Gambon) they try to help show Ebenezer Scrooge the error of his ways and what will become of him.

Kate Winslet stars as the voice of Belle, a nurse who was once on the point of marrying Scrooge and a friend of Scrooge’s sister Fan, but he ruined both of those relationships.

Now Belle finds herself caught up in her employer’s debt crisis — she’s working for a kindly doctor whose charity tends the sick, especially ill children, he charitably accepts fees for treatment depending on what his patients can afford, if anything, and ultimately has landed him in debt. Flung into jail by Joe, Belle writes a letter to Scrooge pleading with him to find it in his heart to show compassion and leniency towards the doctor.

Thus the scene is set and, after Scrooge has eventually let Bob Cratchit (Rhys Ifans) go home to his wife (Juliet Stevenson) and family and comfort his sick son, Scrooge retires to bed along with the friendly mice Gabriel and Ellen. But sleep eludes Scrooge as Jacob Marley pervades his dreams and becomes the start of a frightening nightmare.

The two mice bring some light relief to the story. Their comic escapades throughout will help to keep younger viewers amused, particularly when interest in the story line starts to run a little thin.

Martin Lawrence is the Black Knightin this hapless flick, which is veteran television producer Gil Junger’s second feature as a director. And it looks it.

Lawrence plays the part of Jamal,who works at a tawdry southern California amusement park called Medieval World.

He finds himself transported back to medieval England in the summer of 1328. Following a predictable series of events, Jamal meets the lovely Victoria (Marsha Thomason) and is mistaken for a messenger announcing an expected visit by the king of Normandy.

The English king (Kevin Conway) holds a banquet in honour of Sir Jamal Skywalker, as our quick-thinking hero names himself.

A sequence set at the banquet is the film’s most entertaining part. The king, still not convinced Sir Jamal represents the Norman king, says he knows the Normans are famously good dancers and demands Skywalker entertain the banquet guests with a dance exhibition.

First he brings the medieval orchestra to life by teaching it a groovy beat. Then, setting an example, he gets the entire court of lords and ladies clapping and singing along on Dance to the Music. This kind of physical comedy gives Lawrence a chance to strut his best stuff.