There’s quite a bit of bizarre pop culture trivia based around Illumination’s version of The Grinch. There was a huge leak, later proved false, for the upcoming Super Smash Brothers game that was supposedly confirmed thanks to a piece of Grinch advertising material in the background of the leak. This was also the last Seuss movie Universal made before Audrey Geisel, Seuss’ widow, jumped ship to Warner Animation Group. It even has a set of original songs by musician Tyler, The Creator. This latest Grinch is a weird one, and it doesn’t end there.
Because at the end of the day there’s a fair amount this film doesn’t do very well. Most of its narration and rhyming techniques feel like they’re being used just to pay lip service to the original material. Despite being heavily featured in advertising, the original songs are only used twice; once during the Grinch’s introduction and again during the credits. For a property that has such a specific musical identity, it’s underwhelming.
There’s also a general blandness to the film’s sets and characters, feeling like a cheap imitation of Seuss’ drawings that stopped at “good enough.” The Grinch himself looks fine and well designed, and his dog Max is just too adorable for words. But the Who’s and their Whoville are so cookie cutter “creative” that it becomes blah by only twenty minutes in.
Illumination’s animation continues to be solid, despite the general lack of imagination put into the designs. The sense of physical humor continues to shine here, as well as the quirky cartoony exaggeration. The Grinch’s style of inventions makes for some good visual showcases, and there’s an amusing West Side Story-style Caroler scene early on. The third act robbery sequence is a visual highlight especially., with the Grinch’s smile reflecting the audiences’ as he creatively snags all of the Whos various trinkets.
Speaking of the Whos, the subplot involving Cindy Lo Who, played by Cameron Seely (“The Greatest Showman,” “The Jim Gaffigan Show”) and her mother, played by Rashida Jones (“Parks and Recreation,” “The Social Network”), is just boring and bland. A variation on it has been done in just about every other Christmas film released (including the Jim Carey “Grinch” film) and it just doesn’t stand out.
Despite being fairly bland, there’s a weird sense of inaccuracies within the film. It’s odd to point out, but there are moments wherein geometrical logic seems to have gone out the window. At one-point, young Cindy Lo Who slides down a massive snowy slide, and ten minutes later, that slide just disappears from the front of her house? Keep an eye on where Whoville is located during the film’s third act mountain scene for another geometrical oddity.
Illumination does smartly tone down its somewhat annoying humor here, though not by much. While the overall affair is less hyperactive and crude than in the “Despicable Me” or “Secret Life of Pets” films, it isn’t completely gone. Grinch’s reindeer Fred is just…kind of there for no reason. And the screaming goat meme pops up three times because…it’s a meme? At least these moments of pandering humor are less than other Illumination productions.
Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Imitation Game,” “Doctor Strange”) is the star of the show here. Rightly so, given he plays the title character, and his slightly grated, wry vocal fry gives his version of the green grump a distinct tone. He is the film’s best asset and the filmmakers know exactly when to pivot away from the boring subplots and back to him.
It’s easy to be cynical about this latest Grinch film, and there’s a lot to complain about within it. But then something happens. Two thirds of the way through, after the Grinch has carried out his plan and is starring down at Whoville, something breaks inside him.
Herein lies the film’s biggest and smartest decision: they don’t give the Grinch a distinct reason to be angry. While that may seem like a downside, it adds so much to this film’s version of this yuletide meanie. Because his reason for hating the season isn’t the direct fault of anyone else, it invites a kind of challenge to the audience. It points out the Grinch within all of us and does so in a remarkably grounded way.
It directly challenges the ideas of seasonal cynicism, and even pointing fingers directly at audience members who may have gone into the film rolling their eyes. It’s smart and adds a lot to Illumination’s version of Seuss’s Christmas curmudgeon, helped along by Cumberbatch’s voicework and the general low stakes nature of his pre-Christmas Eve antics to make this Grinch more relatable in his antagonistic ways.
Sure, even taking the initial cynicism out of it, it still isn’t anything groundbreaking. But its fun, colorful, with a great performance from Cumberbatch and a generally unique take on the Grinch’s ideals. It’s not the greatest Seuss adaptation around, but its sweet enough for a theatre viewing and charming enough to watch during the holidays. At the very least, its leagues ahead of “The Lorax.” 3/5
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