By: Keaton Marcus

Genre/Kids/Family

Age Rating/5+

Lemonradar/52% sour

Introduction

Hi, this is Keaton Marcus from Sweet and Sour Movie Reviews and today I will be reviewing Illumination’s take on The Grinch, based on Dr. Seuss’ acclaimed classic children’s book. In a little town called Whoville, Christmas has always been their biggest holiday, disrupting the Grinch’s peace and quiet up in his lonely mountain overlooking the place, when the Whos claim to make this year’s Christmas three-times bigger than last year, the Grinch decides that the only way to keep his solitude was to steal this year’s Christmas, all the toys and decorations; Later, he makes a plan to pose as Whoville’s idol, Santa Claus. Down in the little town of Whoville, a little girl called Cindy Lou Who plans to speak to Santa Claus to help her over-working single mother, Donna Lou Who.

How Was The Cast?

In this modernized retake on The Grinch, star Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the titular schemer, which is very unusual, and very risky, considering his British background and the tale being an all-american children’s book, the talented star does bring little to the table. Supporting roles include Rashida Jones as Donna Who, Cameron Seely as Cindy Lou Who and Kenan Thompson as Mr. Bricklebaum. Firstly, as noted, we saw Benedict Cumberbatch known for Doctor Strange, Avengers: Infinity War, The Imitation Game, the tv take on Sherlock, Penguins of Madagascar etc. play the iconic role of the Grinch. Cumberbatch does not bring much unique traits to the character, delivering a somewhat bland performance, and while there were laughs and sporadic giggles to be heard, Cumberbatch’s american-accent, and the wasting of his talent in this film is very disappointing; Being in multiple animated films and performing CGI’d characters (Smaug in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings), and delivering fantastic performances as Sherlock Holmes, and many other live-action appearances, Cumberbatch cannot help but drown in the mess of a script and story. Overall, the talented actor has laughs, pratfalls and some great moments, but on the whole, he delivers a disappointingly mediocre performances. Secondly, we saw actress Rashida Jones known for The Office, Inside Out, The Simpsons, Our Idiot Brother, The Social Network etc. take on the role of Donna Who. Looking at her mostly comedic career, Jones is actually a very good actress overall, and looks as though she is seemingly right for the role of Cindy Lou Who’s overworked, single mother, Donna Who, this part has never actually been told to the audience in all three Grinch film adaptations, and while it is creative to bring another character to the screen, considering how funny Jones is in previous films and tv, directors Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier completely waste the talent; Failing to go deep on her character development, or focus on her for that matter, the newly added character of Donna Who is left in the wasteland of many other characters not receiving enough attention from the script. Overall, Rashida Jones delivers an unfunny, unfocused performance which is that much more disappointing considering her talent. Thirdly, actress Cameron Seely known for The Greatest Showman, Madam Secretary etc. as Cindy Lou Who. Being an iconic part to play throughout the years, in the original Grinch adaptation, directors Chuck Jones and Ben Washam portrayed the little girl as a soft-spoken, more timid version, in the year 2000, director Ron Howard failed to give the titular role more focus, ending up delivering a tired, up past her bedtime-type Cindy Lou, and currently, in The Grinch, the film gives her a spunky, energetic, more modern type nature, which works like a charm. Young actress Cameron Seely delivers a funny, over-the-top and all above cute performance as Cindy Lou. Lastly, for honorable mention, we had actor Kenan Thompson known for Big Fat Liar, Saturday Night Live, Snakes on a Plane, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt etc. as Mr. Bricklebaum. Like actress Rashida Jones, Thompson plays a newly added character to the mythology, but with much more success; While I would love to see more of the actor playing the hysterical, laugh-out-loud role, Thompson gives enough comedic pleasures for the audience, delivering a very big, if supporting role in the film.

Is It Worth Your While?

Directing this third adaptation to the children’s book is directors Scott Mosier (Clerks, Good Will Hunting, Chasing Amy etc.) and Yarrow Cheney (The Secret Life of Pets) come together to film The Grinch. Having limited success, Mosier and Cheney do direct with enough visual wit, but receive mixed results from the cast, wasting both Benedict Cumberbatch and Rashida Jones, and have a tough time executing the original story, however their directing is an arguable improvement over Ron Howard’s atrocious filmmaking for How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), and they do scratch the surface many times, but ultimately fail to stand out amongst many other mediocre Dr. Seuss adaptations. Special effects wise, like many other Illumination and Dr. Seuss adaptations, The Grinch succeeds delivering dazzling animation, creating a loveable world for children; Standing at a reported 75M production budget, it middles among other adaptations including The Lorax (70M), Horton Hears a Who (85M), The Cat in the Hat (109M) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (123M). This somewhat low production budget helps the already Box Office hit become more profitable. Storyline wise, this seems to be one of the weakest parts to the film, delivering a chaotic, unfocused situation and while it is aided by some charms within the cast, and charismatic narration, the overwhelming sense of rushing through the film drowns the nostalgic attempts to reboot the classic story.

Aging ‘Christmas’

Similar to other Illumination features such as Despicable Me, Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, The Grinch is strictly for kids, the film including cartoonish violence, rude language and behaviour and an absence of sexuality or adult situations. The violence includes throwing large objects, destroying an alarm clock, the Grinch decapitates a snowman (for comedic entertainment), also causing some damage to Whoville and there is a scene towards the end that features the main characters in peril, on top of a mountain. Language wise, nothing to say except some rude humor including insults such as dumb stupid, and oh sugar plum. Sexuality wise, there is a scene that features the Grinch in underwear, and a shot of a nude Who, but a cookie covers his lower half.

Dr. Seuss Showdown

The Grinch 52% sour

Violence: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Language: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Sex: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Age Rating: 5+

The Lorax 50% sour

Violence: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Language: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Sex: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Age Rating: 6+

The Grinch 52% sour

Storyline: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

The Lorax 50% sour

Storyline: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

News Related to The Grinch

$plurge, $tream, $kip: The Grinch has its moments, and is exceptionally cute for kids, but is only sporadically funny and ultimately fails to stand out amongst other Dr. Seuss adaptations…$KIP IT