March 13, 2012

MOVIES: The Lorax (Chris Renaud & Kyle Balda, 2012)

I didn't have the highest expectations for The Lorax. It's not one of Dr. Seuss's better books, filled with didactic preaching, and trying to pad even his good books to feature length has never worked. (The only really good Seuss film: the Chuck Jones How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and it's only 26 minutes long.)

But lord, I didn't expect it to be this bad. The voice acting is either bland (Taylor Swift, Zac Efron, Ed Helms) or wildly inappropriate (Danny DeVito as the lovable, cuddly Lorax?); the animation is unattractive; and the songs that have been added to the story are aggressively ugly.

And if the "Yay! Environment!" preaching of the book wasn't smug enough for you, the movie adds a layer of "Boo! Businessmen!" sanctimony. Worst of all, the warmth and whimsy that mark Seuss's work are entirely absent from the movie. A total mess.

No comments: