The Grinch (2018)

• Year: 2018
• Released: 09 Nov 2018
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 1 win & 18 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2709692/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_grinch
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-grinch
• Available in: 3D, 720p, 1080p
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG
• Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
• Runtime: 85 min
• Writer: Michael LeSieur, Tommy Swerdlow, Dr. Seuss
• Director: Yarrow Cheney, Scott Mosier
• Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Cameron Seely, Rashida Jones
• Keywords: christmas, remake, surrealism, based on children’s book,

	6.3/10
	51/100
	59% – Critics
	51% – Audience

The Grinch Storyline

For their eighth fully animated feature, Illumination and Universal Pictures present The Grinch, based on Dr. Seuss’ beloved holiday classic. The Grinch tells the story of a cynical grump who goes on a mission to steal Christmas, only to have his heart changed by a young girl’s generous holiday spirit. Funny, heartwarming, and visually stunning, it’s a universal story about the spirit of Christmas and the indomitable power of optimism. Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch lends his voice to the infamous Grinch, who lives a solitary life inside a cave on Mt. Crumpet with only his loyal dog, Max, for company. With a cave rigged with inventions and contraptions for his day-to-day needs, the Grinch only sees his neighbors in Whoville when he runs out of food. Each year at Christmas they disrupt his tranquil solitude with their increasingly bigger, brighter, and louder celebrations. When the Whos declare they are going to make Christmas three times bigger this year, the Grinch realizes there is only one way for him to gain some peace and quiet: he must steal Christmas. To do so, he decides to pose as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, even going so far as to trap a lackadaisical misfit reindeer to pull his sleigh. Meanwhile, down in Whoville, Cindy-Lou Who (Cameron Seely), a young girl overflowing with holiday cheer, plots with her gang of friends to trap Santa Claus as he makes his Christmas Eve rounds so that she can thank him for help for her overworked single mother. As Christmas approaches, however, her good-natured scheme threatens to collide with the Grinch’s more nefarious one. Will Cindy-Lou achieve her goal of finally meeting Santa Claus? Will the Grinch succeed in silencing the Whos’ holiday cheer once and for all?

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The Grinch Movie Reviews

The Grinch: All Rapped Up

The technicals of this version are outstanding, great, bright animation, very Pixar-ish. However, it fails in its heart which is always driven by actors’ voicing and what a BIG FAIL this was – as many others have noted, so you know it’s not just a few of us. First, WTH is Pharrell narrating?! Weakest voicing ever! NOTHING even approaching the dramatic storytelling of the classic’s Karloff. And his hip-hop, rap interludes were simply wrong for this feature – maybe if you’re setting the story in a rundown urban environment, maybe then it’d have fit, but it was totally out of place here. Then Benedict Cucumber-patch’s voicing of our main Grinch character was way off base, nowhere up to the task, it was a pathetic reading of the script, the biggest letdown you could imagine. Finally, the naive, demure Cindy Lou Who from the classic is re-imagined as a hyper-active grrl power character which is also annoying and out of place. We can only hope this version is relegated to the dust bin of some Hollywood warehouse, never to be seen again.

Very Colorful

I watched this with my grandson. Yes, I still think the original cartoon based on the book is superior. There is a simplicity that really works. The Grinch is downright mean. I love Benedict Cumberbach, but found his voice just too soothing to pull off our guy. There was too much psychological mumbo jumbo as the writers came up with an excuse for the Grinch being the way he was. Of course, it was his childhood. The movie is spectacular in its visuals. There are colorful scenes and excellent structures, making Whoville really magnificent. But the story is watered down and using Cindy Lou Who as an active character didn’t work for me.

This film shocked me…it was good…very good.

I know this will upset some folks, but the 2000 version of Dr. Seuss’ classic, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” was an abomination. First, the entire message of the original story was lost…and was, in fact, the opposite of Seuss’ story. Second, the story was all about Jim Carrey and his mugging for the camera….everything else seemed secondary. Because of this, I was terribly disappointed, as I loved the original story and the great 1966 cartoon. Because of this, I was very reticent to watch this 2018 incarnation. But, in hindsight, my fears about the latest film are mostly unfounded.

Because the film is about an hour and a half long, I already realized that the story had to be padded and include some new material…this is just inevitable. However, I was surprised how much I liked this material…such as the Grinch’s cute reindeer. It was very pleasant and all contributed to the story instead of distracting from it. And, as far as the story goes, it stuck pretty close to the book–even using many exact quotes from the classic tale.

As far as the quality of the film goes, it’s a mixed bag but mostly good. The animation was eye-popping and wonderful. It really is great on the big screen and the 3-D effects were magnificent. I also liked that they made the Grinch a hater of Christmas but NOT a hateful or evil character. He was kinder and more sweet at times….even though he hated the holiday. The only things I wasn’t thrilled about were the narration by John Legend and the voicework for the Grinch himself by Benedict Cumberbatch. I had the distinct impression that BOTH were used simply because the studio could get them–not because they were appropriate for the film. Legend is apparently a nice guy…but his nice-guy voice wasn’t what you’d want or expect from a narrator. The same for Cumberbatch–who DID sound very different from his usual English accented voice but still was too ‘normal’ a voice for a character such as the Grinch.

Overall, despite my voice talent complaint, the film is a great family film…one that honors the book and 1966 film instead of ignoring it like the 2000 incarnation. Well worth seeing and amazingly heartwarming…especially at the end as well as when the Grinch is interacting with his dog and pet reindeer.