The Grinch Review

I’m not a Grinch, I swear.

It’s the second week of November so you know what that means…. Christmas films being released one month before Christmas. Now I’m not going to go on a rant on about the unnecessary get as much money as you can schemes by studios but let’s just say I’m not on board with such early releases. Christmas films is one of my favourite genres of films in the world. There’s nothing better than lighting a fire, getting into your pyjamas and watching a holiday classic. For those of you wondering my 4 favourite Christmas films are Home Alone, Die Hard, It’s a Wonderful Life and Gremlins. One film which I’ve never quite understood the hype about is the 2000 iteration of The Grinch. As gigantic fan of the 1966 short film How the Grinch Stole Christmas, I felt that the film version stretched the premise a little bit too far. Jim Carrey certainly elevated the film with a phenomenal performance, one which is surely behind the film’s cult following. Here we are now in 2018, 18 years after Carrey’s version and 52 after the classic cartoon came out, with Illumination Entertainment’s version titled Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch. Is the Minions team release a new classic? Or is this a mean one? Sadly, this may be one of the lazier films you’ll see this year.

The Grinch centres around the grumpy Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch) who plots to ruin Christmas for the whole of Whoville. Let’s get into what I liked about the film because there isn’t that much. The Grinch’s pet dog Max is one of only two characters in the film who made me laugh. The comedy with Max works because it’s not purely focussed on physical comedy, instead Max’s facial reactions to what’s happening around him will give you some chuckles. Max is sympathetic and you’re rooting for the doggo to get away from Mr Grinch who treats him like dirt. A film focusing on Max trying to escape an abusive friendship with The Grinch would have been a much better story to tell kids, that not everyone your friends with is good for you. The only other character I enjoyed was Mr Bickleman (Keenan Thompson), who’s over exaggerated plans for Christmas got wilder every time he appeared left me in stitches. Thompson clearly knows how to make these small parts work considering he’s the longest serving SNL cast member he knows how to make the smallest of parts stand out. Thompson’s comedic chops saves the film at times from sending to me at sleep, id love to see him land some more live action roles because he’s more than capable of leaving cinemas in fits of laughter. The only other two things I enjoyed about the film is the animation and soundtrack. The animation is pretty much identical to Despicable Me, Whoville and the Whovians are all fun to look at leaving you with something to focus on in the drab sections of the film. The soundtrack may not be for everyone but hearing Tyler the Creator and Brockhampton in a film had me punching for joy. Unfortunately, these things aren’t enough to save The Grinch from being below mediocre.

The problem with The Grinch may lie in Mr Grinch himself. The Grinch is meant to be mean, vile and all kinds of irredeemable. The problem with Cumberbatch’s version of the character is that he isn’t evil at all. He’s just kind of a jerk who plays petty pranks. It’s like that kid in school who would tell you of all the cool things he’s done but you’ve never actually seen him do any of these things. We’re told by our narrator Pharrell, a man who’s milking Illumination for everything they’ve got, of how horrible The Grinch is but he’s not that horrible. The Whovians grated every last shred of nerve I had, their loud, obnoxious and not funny at all. If I was Mr Grinch, I would have fled the country never mind up a mountain. Cumberbatch’s performance as Mr Grinch is uncharacteristically dull by the actor’s high standards. He doesn’t really add anything to add to leave his mark on the character. His version of The Grinch falls a lot, makes references that the kids will get and falls over some more. The humour is extremely low brow and will get minimum laugh out of you. The Grinch doesn’t really seem to have much lines in the film, for The Grinch’s film he’s not in as much of the film as you would expect. Cumberbatch must have been too busy with Infinity War 2 to give this all of his effort. To see one of the better actors in the world give such a bland performance is super sad to see, this is a Grinch which will forever live in Carrey’s showdown.

Now I’m sure there’s many of you who are thinking I’m being too harsh because this is a kid’s film but I beg to differ. As a fair comparison lets go back to 2004 back when I was 5 to see what films were released. The big Winter films of that year were The Incredibles, Shark Tale and The Polar Express. Two of these are classics in my eyes and hell even Shark Tail is smarter than The Grinch. It begs to question did anyone even try on this film. Directors Yarrow Chesney best known for making The Secret Life of Pets, and Scott Mosier, best known for producing anything to do with Jay and Silent Bob, were probably hired because they could make something that would make toddlers laugh at. I don’t think that animation should be low denominator humour for only younger audiences. Animated films should be filled with humour, story and heart which is enjoyable for people of any generation. The two writers Michael Le Sieur and Tommy Swerdlow most well known work in the last decade are You Me and Dupree and Snow Dogs. These two guys have manged to just about squeeze 80 minutes of a film together which feels like an eternity. Illumination Entertainment are a company who shockingly low ambition. As Pixar’s main rival these days, they make forgettable film after forgettable film (besides Despicable Me) yet make bucketloads of money from them. Say what you want about DreamWorks but at least they were trying.

Overall, The Grinch made me mad. I’m mad at the current state of mainstream animation. I’m mad that audiences are being given reboots that are lazier than a mule.  I’m mad that this is going o continue to happen, Illumination are rebooting Shrek for crying out loud. I want 2 things from the next let’s just say 5 years. 1: I want a new Christmas film which will capture hearts all over the world. 2: I want Illumination to make a film which doesn’t range between awful and mediocre. Lord knows I’m not going to get either of these things, but a man can dream. The Grinch stole my belief that Illumination aren’t cash driven businessmen. Do yourself a favour and watch the original short film. At least that way you’ll leave with a big smile and brain cells intact.

Liam’s Summary of The Grinch.

Best Moment: I screamed hysterically when I heard Brockhampton.

Worst Moment: seeing my girlfriend enjoying this garbage. Man, I thought I had a good thing going…

Best Character: Max the dog is the hero we need in these cold winter months.

Worst Character: Cindy Lou’s friends reminded me why I don’t like kids.

Overall Rating: 2/5