Here’s my review of Illumination’s The Grinch. Overall I think it was a cute and jolly movie, but I’ll go by bullet points and write down what I liked and didn’t like.
The positives
- Whoville looking wonderful: I love the design of Whoville, especially seen from afar. The town looks like a croquembouche of gingerbread houses iced in vanilla and powdered sugar.
- Max stealing the show: Max is a great character! Funny, expressive, likable. He’s so pure and earnest, like we like to imagine dogs to be. His attitude was refreshingly free of cynicism!
- Cuteness overload: Cindy Lou Who is deliberately adorable, and so are her friends. The fat reindeer looks perfectly huggable, especially when it snuggles in bed with the Grinch.
- Gizmos and gadgets: The Grinch has many quirky inventions, from his dog-operated coffeemaker to the long mechanical legs he uses to steal Christmas. Anything’s possible.
- Affable Bricklebaum: This bearded Who is an explosion of cheerfulness and a friend to all. He seems to constantly be having a blast. His dog is hilarious too. I wish we saw more of her!
The whimsical setting of Whoville.
The negatives
- Unresolved conflict: A key plot point is that Cindy Lou’s mom is overworked. Cindy Lou’s Christmas wish is to help her mom. She doesn’t find that help by the end of the movie.
- Filler material: The Grinch spends a lot of time acquiring a reindeer, only for the reindeer to leave. Cindy Lou spends time gathering her friends, but they are as irrelevant as the reindeer.
- Spoiling Santa (?): When Cindy Lou says she’s writing to Santa, the Grinch replies “Why don’t you tell him in person? Oh that’s right, no one’s ever seen him!” with a knowing smirk.
- Implausible backstory: All the Grinch had to do to become a socially integrated neighbor was go to one dinner party. If it was so easy, how come he never tried it in the previous 50 years?
- They did manage to fit in a butt joke: It seems like every classic must be tarnished with a butt shot. This one featured the Grinch’s butt with the words “Go Time” printed on it.
The Grinch leaves no place for Santa.
In conclusion, I think The Grinch does a sweet update on the character of Max and on some of the Whos. The character of the Grinch himself gets kind of overshadowed.
About the future of Dr. Seuss films
The Grinch is based on a Dr. Seuss book, which makes it the third animated adaptation of a Dr. Seuss books in the past ten years. It started with Blue Sky’sĀ Horton Hears a Who in 2008, followed by Illumination’s The Lorax in 2012. Although they were made by two different companies and studios, Horton Hears a Who and The Lorax had the same team of writers. It looked like the Dr. Seuss properties had found a home at Illumination, but earlier this year it was announced that future Dr. Seuss films would instead be produced by Warner Animation Group. Their first project is supposed to be The Cat in the Hat, but they’ve said they hope to do more than one film.
Fred the filler did fill my heart.
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Great movie
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