The Grinch (2018)
This festive animation is certainly aimed at younger viewers, but the family-friendly humour should keep the parents amused, and the uplifting Christmas message can’t help but tug at the heartstrings.
Premise: Alone on his mountain, the Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch) hates Christmas as much as the nearby town of Whoville loves it. But while 6-year-old Cindy-Lou Who tries to find a way to meet Santa Claus, the Grinch plots to steal Christmas from the whole town.
Review:
Chances are, most parents are already familiar with the Dr Seuss book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”, either from their own childhood or from reading it to their children. This latest animated version of the story remains pretty faithful to the Dr Seuss book, which may be a positive or a negative, depending on your point of view.
Personally, I really like the fact that The Grinch doesn’t try to take too many liberties with the source material, as it’s nice to see what is fundamentally a really faithful adaptation of the story. Too many times writers/directors feel they need to “reinvent” classic stories to bring something “new” to the table, or to “update” the material for modern audiences, but more often than not, the end result is a dilution of what made the story so magical in the first place. By concentrating on the core elements of Dr Seuss’ book, The Grinch is a refreshingly straightforward festive tale.
“…the humour feels very similar to the ‘Despicable Me’ movies…”
That’s not to say that The Grinch doesn’t have any new ideas, but most of them are comedic ideas rather than plot elements. The main new plot thread in this film relates to the relationship between Cindy-Lou Who and her mother, Donna-Lou Who (Rashida Jones). Donna-Lou is very much a modern, overworked-but-loving single mum, and Cindy-Lou wants to find a way to meet Santa Claus so she can ask Santa to help her mum out. Although this subplot feels very modern, it also feels perfectly in keeping with the spirit and message of Dr Seuss’ original book.
Comedy-wise, the humour in The Grinch feels very similar to Illumination’s biggest animated franchise, the Despicable Me movies. The interplay between the Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his faithful dog, Max, has echoes of the Gru/Minions dynamic, and there should be enough humour to keep parents and younger viewers entertained.
“…a funny and faithful adaptation of the Dr Seuss story…”
This is perhaps the quintessential example of a film that is what it sets out to be – nothing more, nothing less. It’s a funny and faithful adaptation of the Dr Seuss story, that doesn’t try to reinvent or reimagine it into something else. And as a Christmas movie, The Grinch captures Dr Seuss’ heart-warming message about the true meaning of Christmas perfectly – and if you can’t leave your cynicism at the door at Christmas, when can you?
