The Grinch (Review)

The Grinch Gives Us a Kinder, Nicer Grinch. Which Ultimately Disappoints.

I’m sure most of us all know the story of Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch by now. That mean, green jerk who lives up on a mountain and hates all the Who’s down in Whoville, especially during Christmas. We’ve seen the character get the animation treatment once before and even got a live action version with Jim Carry. This time around, Illumination (the studio responsible for those “delightful” minions) takes a crack at the classic children’s book character. While a lot of what they do with the film proves to be an undeniable success, overall it doesn’t feel like it does the source material justice and leaves audiences with yet another disappointing Christmas movie.

What The Grinch really has going for it from the get-go is Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the titular curmudgeon. This is hardly his first foray into voice acting, but it just might be the most satisfying. Typically he’s known for a deep and deadly serious voice, but for this children’s film he lightens it up a bit, but still manages to bring all of his personality to the role. I dare say that his American accent is even getting better (though I have no idea why the Grinch happens to be American). His take on the character is a more of an anti-social victim of PTSD. His trauma comes for the fact that he was an orphan in Whoville as a child and no one seemed to want him. It’s because of this that he suffers terrible flashbacks to his loneliness as a child when he was forced to watch every other Who have a splendid holiday, while he was left alone in the cold. Personally, I can’t say I blame the Grinch for holding a grudge, especially since the Whos are pretty much insufferable.

While The Grinch might not want to celebrate Christmas, this doesn’t stop the Whos from trying to shove it down his throat every chance they get. In a lot of ways, the Whos seem very much like those people who flip out when you say “Happy Holidays” to them rather than “Merry Christmas.” They’re such staunch believers in the holiday that anyone who doesn’t believe in it much be a “mean one.” I get that there’s a deeper meaning to Christmas in general, and they want the Grinch to believe in that whole “kindness among man” thing. But that didn’t stop me from finding myself annoyed with how in your face they are with their beliefs. I’m sure I sound like some sort of keyboard social justice warrior, but to be perfectly honest, I found myself siding with the Grinch within a few minutes of this film starting. It’s one thing to have pride in your personal beliefs, it’s another to make sure everyone else has to share that pride.

While Whoville might have offered little charm, especially when it comes to the subpar voice acting from the likes of Cameron Seely as Cindy-Lou and Tristen O’Hare as her partner in crime, who’s voices border on grating. The real star of The Grinch never actually says a word. Of course, I’m talking about Max who packs more than enough charisma and charm to make up for those dreaded Whos. He’s easily one of my favorite animated dogs to date (a task which is hardly easy given how many there are). While the Whos might shoot their mouths off about the true meaning of Christmas, Max is the only character in the film that seems to embrace the full spirit of the Holiday. In fact, he and Cumberbatch are the only truly great things this film has to offer. Well, them and Pharrell Williams as the narrator. His style is a bit unexpected for the part, but he certainly brings a lot to the film by the end of it.

Directors Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier try to give us a new take on the Grinch while still remaining faithful to his roots. For this the introduce more characters for him to interact with that prove to be completely unnecessary for the story overall. In fact, I believe the hinder the character overall because these force him to show just the slightest bit of kindness even before his grand revelation at the end (spoiler alert, but come on) where he discovers the true meaning of Christmas. While there have been some surprising animated movies that I’ve seen this year in theaters, The Grinch just doesn’t quite make the cut for me. Sure, it’s a quirky, fun, little film, but it also feels shallow. Ultimately, the only surprise it offers is that it’s not nearly as good as one would hope a classic Christmas tale like this could be in the right hands. That isn’t to say that kids won’t love it, but the parents might find themselves regretting the price of admission.