The Grinch (2018)
Released: November 9th, 2018
Company: Illumination
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keenan Thompson, Rashida Jones
Opening Thoughts:
This was one of the films I was eager to watch. To set me toward a more merry mindset. I thought the trailers were humorous and fun, the animation looked beautiful. I loved the artwork of the poster. In a time where movie posters are the boring rehashing of the same thing done to disgust. The movie poster told the story. While I was excited, I knew to go in that this film was not going to be very original. It was going to be an updated retelling of the famous story. I was merely hoping to enjoy the ride, and in that is was successful.
Plot: Sickened by the exuberant celebrations of Christmas in Whoville, the Grinch decides it is time to do away with the horrible holiday.
Dislikes:
Again, I’m not going rip apart the film for being unoriginal. It is following a basic premise and source material and it does in acceptable fashion. There were aspects they could have improved upon, and they did not.
Benedict Cumberbatch was fine as the Grinch, but I felt his voice should have been lower. It was too high-pitched and whiny for my liking. I accepted it in the movie, but I feel it was a missed opportunity.
I understand that you need to fill out a story to at least 90 minutes for a feature-length film, but I feel you could have done that with a better secondary storyline than Cindy Lou Who. Cindy Lou Who is certainly innocent enough and her ideas and goals have merit. However, the film makes both the character and her story very bland. It could have crafted something deeper and more profound to it, but it never went for that. Playing it safe may ensure you offend nobody, but it also means you weren’t memorable.
The second act of the film meanders way too much as the whole story setup feels awkward. Honestly, there are 10-20 minutes of film that could have been cut and it wouldn’t have changed a thing.
I would have liked to see more character development from The Grinch. Show his grumpy menacing side a bit more. Show the little glimmer of love in his heart. Have the moments that alter who he sticks around a bit longer. This movie tends to focus too much on trying to deliver a punchline rather than something meaningful.
The worst aspect of the film is how they did the storyboard. It felt uneven, bland, and sloppy. There was a lot of potentials to be had to make a sound remake of The Grinch, but this film was never daring enough to hit that extra note.
Likes:
Something simple, but a good movie often has a simple moment or trait that redeems a character. That we may not love or like them, but something, ever so small, that makes us almost like them. This movie does this very well with Max and The Grinch. They have a connection, a friendship and it is fun to see it play out. Max is awesome and I like their connection much more than the original.
The best thing about the film was the animation. It looked beautiful throughout the film and there were a few moments where the animator’s artistic creations were dazzling. I could screenshot a few moments in the film and admire the beauty within it. Not every animated film has that.
The humor won with me. No, I wasn’t laughing heartily throughout the film. (Few films make me laugh that deep belly laugh anyway). However, it won me over with a series of chuckles, particularly in the first and third act of the film.
I will give some credit for adding a little bit of heart to the film. Some emotional depth does assist the film in making me care about The Grinch. Because unlike the other films, this film casts The Grinch in a much more sympathetic tone. Although I’m still mixed about trying to explain The Grinch’s hatred for Christmas.
For the first time, I looked at the Whos as actual victims. In the previous versions, especially the Jim Carrey live-action film. The Whoville residents were terrible to both the Grinch and one another. The Grinch has a clear reason to hate all those nasty individuals. In this film, they felt by far the most amiable of all these films.
The Conclusion:
The animation and humor were positives for me, but the awkward storytelling and lack of interesting characters leave me wanting more from this new Grinch film. Furthermore, he isn’t mean as he is grumpy. In the end, this Grinch is just alright. I’ve seen better films, but I could craft a list of animated films I’d never want to watch again, and this film would NOT make that list. I’d gladly watch it again on a sleepy snowy December weekend but within my home complete with a nice cup of cocoa.
The Animated Ladder:
The ladder goes unchanged as The Grinch doesn’t have enough to reach even the lowest areas of this list.
The Movie Guy and Friends 