The Grinch

Let's kick this off with the one question you're probably wondering - Is this animated take on The Grinch better than the live action Jim Carrey film Ron Howard gave us 18 years ago?  The answer is a resounding yes.  While it's still no replacement for the original book, or the Chuck Jones TV special (still the best adaptation), this movie has the heart and the warmth that Howard's version lacked.  In all honestly, if the TV networks were to remove the 2000 movie from their holiday playlist, and put this on regular seasonal rotation, I don't think I would mind.

Right off the bat, this is a kinder and gentler film than Howard's.  Gone is the inappropriately crude humor, the sexual innuendo, and the Whos are no longer depicted as greedy and materialistic creeps, played by actors whose faces are hidden by bizarre make up and rat-like noses. (I still have no idea what the filmmakers were thinking on that one.) Instead, the team at Illumination Studios have given us an appropriately Seuss-like design to all the characters and settings, backed up with a warm and inviting Christmas environment of snow and comforting colors.  That's another problem I always had with the 2000 film.  The "festive" reds and greens that graced that movie looked garish and sickly, instead of joyous.  Here, everything is much softer and pleasant to look at.  It's no technical marvel, but when you stop and think about it, Dr. Seuss doesn't need to be state of the art.  It just needs to get the heart of the story across, and that's what this movie does.

If there is a downgrade to be found, it's in who they got to tell the story.  Instead of Boris Karloff in Jones' masterpiece, or Anthony Hopkins in Howard's film, we have recording artist Pharrell Williams doing the narration, and his voice just doesn't have the impact that the film needs.  He's soft spoken and pleasant, but there's just little life to his delivery.  Fortunately, in the role of the Grinch, we have Benedict Cumberbatch (sporting an American accent), and he works just fine.  He's cranky enough, but there's always a tiny hint of humanity when the need arises.  One of the smart choices that the screenplay by Micheal LeSieur (Keeping Up with the Joneses) and Tommy Swerdlow makes is that it does not try to overly-humanize or explain its lead anti-hero.  In the live action film, we got a lengthy and unnecessary flashback to the Grinch's childhood that was supposed to make us feel sorry for him.  This movie keeps its information to the minimum.  We see brief glimpses of the Grinch growing up alone in an orphanage, and being sad around Christmas, and the movie pretty much leaves it at that.  If we need a backstory to the Grinch (and we really don't), at least the writers are smart enough to just touch on it and be done, rather than stopping the entire movie.

Just as always, the Grinch lives atop a mountain with only his dog Max for company, and looks down at the people of Whoville with hatred as they prepare for their holiday festivities.  When he realizes that their Christmas celebration is going to be bigger than ever this year, he figures that the only solution is to stop Christmas from coming by dressing up as Santa Claus, going to the town down below, and stealing all their presents, food and decorations while they sleep on Christmas Eve.  Not much has been changed or added to the main story, other than the fact that for a short while, the Grinch gains the services of a morbidly obese reindeer named Fred to help out in his scheme.  No, the movie didn't really need Fred, but at least the filmmakers were smart enough not to have him talk.  Meanwhile, down in Whoville, little Cindy Lou Who (voiced by the likable Cameron Seely from The Greatest Showman) is making a holiday plan of her own.  She wants to be the first kid ever to stay awake long enough to see the arrival of Santa, because she has one special Christmas wish, one that is not for herself, but rather for her loving and overworked mother (Rashida Jones).

The Grinch is a simple, lean movie, running just under 90 minutes and never outstaying its welcome.  It's colorful, kind of sweet, and has more than enough emotion and heart in its final moments to maybe make accompanying adults choke up a little.  It's full of good feeling, has a few laughs, and even manages to sneak in some classic Christmas music on its soundtrack.  The music score by Danny Elfman is also bright, and manages to capture the mood of the film quite well.  I also liked the gadgets that the Grinch uses on his big Christmas heist, which are largely impractical, but make sense existing in a Dr. Seuss universe.  This is one of those movies that won't stick in your mind long after it's done, but you certainly won't regret watching it.  I'm also sure it will make for something pleasant to have on the TV during the holidays.

Best of all, unlike the 2000 movie, this Grinch won't make parents feel uncomfortable occasionally should they watch it with their kids.  This may not be a great animated film, but it understands the story that it's trying to tell, and it's entertaining and kind of innocent in a way that most family films are not.  Did we need this movie?  Not really.  But I'm still glad it's here.

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