Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Review

PG: Mild Rude Humor

Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment

1 Hr and 26 Minutes

Dir: Scott Mosier, Yarrow Cheney | Writers: Michael LeSieur, Tommy Swerdlow

Voice Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, Cameron Seely, Angela Lansbury, Pharrell Williams

Each year at Christmas they disrupt his tranquil solitude with their increasingly bigger, brighter, and louder celebrations. When the Whos declare they are going to make Christmas three times bigger this year, the Grinch realizes there is only one way for him to gain some peace and quiet: he must steal Christmas. To do so, he decides he will pose as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, even going so far as to trap a lackadaisical misfit reindeer to pull his sleigh.

Ever since they came onto the scene, Illumination has been progressing in their animation, especially since they make films on a relatively cheap budget (60-80 million dollars). Once again, the animation is top notch and has a cinematically theatrical look. It may be cartoonish, but the movie looks like a movie. Like all of the other work the studio has produced, the animation is colorful, vibrant, and overall beautiful. It is very family friendly and accessible. Considering how nightmare-fuelish the Whos looked in the 2000 Ron Howard adaptation, it’s safe to say that the character designs of the Whos standout the most. Most of the Whos look distinctly different and embody their own cute and harmless design. I say “most” because some of the extra background Whos appear more than once throughout the film with the same look but with a different hat, sometimes within the same scene, and you notice the identical designs. That's part of the charm of being on a low budget. You can just recycle the designs and implant them wherever possible.

There are some liberties taken with the characters that occasionally work when initially established. One of the characters that wasn’t marketed was Cindy Lou Who and, similar to the previous incarnation, the film does a decent job developing her as a character. I like the fact that Cindy Lou Who is much older and is a bit more aware of her surroundings. Granted, she pretty much has the same characteristics as both Agnes and Edith from “Despicable Me”, but her family dynamic is a huge factor to her charm and innocence. She’s a bit more complex and developed here than in any previous sources and her Christmas wish motivation is heartwarming.

Then, you have the inventive contraption that does justice to Dr. Seuss. When it comes to the “stealing Christmas” sequence, the animators go all out on the visuals and the inventions the Grinch uses brilliantly capture the essence of the source material. It is incredibly creative in the same influential way that he would do it, which might as well be the only thing that feels like “The Grinch.”

Benedict Cumberbatch as “The Grinch”. That just sounds right! Cumberbatch is vocally unrecognizable, but it’s not used to its full potential because he has that menacing voice that strikes fear in your soul. You remember that bellowing voice work he did with Smaug in the “Hobbit” movies.

That deep voice which can resemble Boris Karloff who voiced the titular character in the 1966 animated TV classic? Well screw that! It’s 2018, where everyone is so sensitive over everything and that voice, if in a deep enough octave, can scare the kiddies so he’s doing his most generic American voice. You know how “Sorry to Bother You” was about Black people doing white guy voices? Well, Cumberbatch is doing just that to play it safe for the families. As a matter of fact, it’s not just him, it’s this entire friggin movie!

The movie is called “The Grinch” and there is nothing Grinch-like to this character. His character design, his voice and, most of all, his actions, barely resemble that of the original Dr. Seuss character. He’s soft, insecure, and vulnerable. None of the lyrics to his iconic song applies to him because he’s nice. Shoot. Come to New York, everyone here is a Grinch. This isn’t “The Grinch”, this is Grinchᴸᴵᵀᴱ. This is Diet Grinch. The Grinch is not a mean one, he’s just a moderately irritated one. He’s not bitter enough.

Unlike the live action film, that motivation for his hatred and drive to steal Christmas is more genuine, but not developed enough. Honestly, it’s relatable and emotionally resonates, but it’s only brought up twice. His hatred towards Christmas and the Whos is not evil as it should be. In previous adaptations, he is feared and he proves how vile he is throughout. The stealing of Christmas was the pinnacle of his evilness. Here, the Whos don’t fear him. They’re inept to his anger. They have the same relationship as Homer Simpson and Ned Flanders. Because of this, a lot of the film feels bland and unexciting. It really plays like a lesser “Despicable Me”, for the Grinch embodies the same characteristics as Gru. The biggest difference is that Gru had an edge. The past two incarnations of the Grinch were unapologetically assholes. Here, Grinch is soft, sassy, and often friendly. Because of that, you kind of lose the essence of the character. He’s an asshole and is mischievous, but not really mean. For someone whose heart is three sizes too small he does numerous kind acts long before that heart grows.

I will say that the live action version had a story that kept moving at a fast pace and was… well... distinct and memorable. For an animated film that is an hour and twenty minutes long, this is slow and doesn’t really contain much substance. It doesn’t have enough humor or story structure to be exciting. Even for its colorful vibrancy the film is booooring.

There are so many filler sequences that just pad out the run time. I can’t believe I’m saying this but it makes me wish I was watching the Jim Carrey version instead. There are memorable moments of that film that became iconic throughout the course of time, like this line:

Nothing memorable is present in this. All you have here is PANDERING!! From a visual standpoint it embodies the aspects of Seuss’ vision, but the story doesn’t have much going on as you’re just waiting for the notable beats of the story to hit. Because of how tame the Grinch is, the message isn’t that impactful and... to be honest, it’s poorly executed.

Is Pharrell Williams the John Ratzenberger of Illumination? Ever since providing the music for  “Despicable Me” Williams has been under the studio’s bill whenever they need him. He did music for all three “Despicable Me” films, did promos for “Minions”, and is the voice of the narrator for this. In regards of music, the featured songs are by Tyler the Creator who I believe was personally asked by Pharrell at a bar because he was tired of doing music for Illumination. It's like the passing of the torch and once Tyler received that torch, Pharrell ran. So if the music in “Despicable Me 4” is by Tyler the Creator, you now know why.

Illumination’s “Dr. Seuss' The Grinch” is colorful and vibrant enough to appeal to a very young crowd, but the soft neutering to the titular character doesn’t just diminish the impact of the story, but also the character himself.

Rating: 2.5/5 | 53%

Super Scene: Stealing Christmas