While different from The Grinch you may remember, this version is able to provide a great message at its core, with a lot of laughs along the way, perfect for every holiday season.
“Illumination and Universal Pictures present The Grinch, based on Dr. Seuss’ beloved 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 spirit. Funny, heartwarming and visually stunning, The Grinch is fun for the whole family!”
The Grinch opens as we are introduced to the town of Whoville as everyone in town is getting ready for Christmas. Bustling with activity, the interactions between the citizens demonstrate their good nature and selflessness that the spirit of Christmas brings. That narrator (Pharrell Williams), responsible for the majority of the rhyming throughout the film, describes the town of Whoville and their love for Christmas, and then tells us about The Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch), who absolutely hates the holiday. After waking up to various Christmas songs playing on the radio, The Grinch yells for his trusty sidekick, Max, to bring him breakfast and help him start the day. When his breakfast is only a single bean, he realizes they are out of food and must make a trip into town during the festivities, something he wanted to avoid at all costs. Back in Whoville, we meet Donna Who (Rashida Jones) who is just getting off her night shift job to go home and take care of her children, Cindy-Lou Who (Cameron Seely) and her younger twin brothers. Despite her hectic schedule and the difficulties in raising three kids by herself while holding a full-time night job, Donna makes the best of it. Knowing how much she struggles, Cindy-Lou has written a letter to Santa wishing that in lieu of presents this year, she wants her Mom to be happy and not have to work so hard. As she races to the post office to mail her letter she bumps into The Grinch, who convinces her that any wish as important as she says it is should be told to Santa in person, giving Cindy-Lou the idea to trap Santa on Christmas Eve.
The Grinch learns that Whoville has decided to make Christmas three times bigger this year, increasing festivities, decorations, and the overall Christmas spirit. During a failed attempt to stop the town tree from being lit, The Grinch is instead thrust in the middle of the celebration with shining lights, joyous singing and smiling faces, reminding him of his childhood in an orphanage watching happy children with their families celebrate the holiday. Distraught and alone, The Grinch hatches his plan to steal Christmas from everyone in Whoville, making them feel as alone as he feels.
Illumination has put out another visually stunning film that takes animation to new heights. The Grinch offers a new look at an old story that should captivate the imaginations of a new generation. It’s as heartwarming a tale as the original, full of Christmas spirit, selflessness, and joy, all things that kids should be subjected to at young ages. The film does take liberties with the story to fill up a feature length film, giving much more backstory on the town and some of its characters, which are all done very well. The story of Donna Who working as a single mother trying to make ends meet while raising a family may find resonance in audiences, and makes Cindy-Lou’s selflessness all the more meaningful. Additionally, a lot of the gadgets The Grinch invents and utilizes during his theft of all of the decorations and presents were wildly entertaining and will provide one of the better scenes of the film. Although it doesn’t highlight some of his more sinister qualities, like slithering on the ground like a snake in the cartoon, kids are going to love what he comes up with.
Besides the animation, the voice acting is wonderful. Benedict Cumberbatch does a funny, higher pitched voice that suits The Grinch well. After reading that the studio originally wanted him to use his normal voice and accent, trying to imagine that version would’ve been interesting to say the least. He’s got a great natural voice, but proves here that he can do just as well using it a bit differently, perfect for an animated film. I also really enjoyed Kenan Thompson’s Mr. Bricklebaum. He had a lot of hilarious lines and delivered them with the deadpan and straight-faced humor I enjoy from him on Saturday Night Live. But by far the most impressive voice acting came from Cameron Seely as Cindy-Lou. For such a young age, her performance was above and beyond what you’d expect from a child actor. As much as I enjoyed the voice acting in the film, one aspect of it I did not enjoy was Pharrell Williams as the narrator. I’ve honestly never heard a more bland and boring narrator, especially for a children’s film. It’s dry, unemotional, and sounds so out of place in the bustling and joyous world of Whoville.
Although there are certain liberties taken to expand the characters and world from the original story and cartoon, one of my biggest problems with the film is that The Grinch doesn’t start off mean at all. Sure, he does a few things to annoy people in town, but for the most part, it doesn’t seem like he has an all-out hatred and disgust for the holiday, but merely tries to avoid it. Honestly, this is like me during the holidays. I avoid certain parts of town during this time, wanting Christmas’ conclusion to come more quickly so I can get back to my normal routine. In fact, The Grinch is very nice to his dog Max, and the giant reindeer that tags along for some of the film. At one point he yells at them to stay out of his bed during the night, but immediately relents, allowing them in. I can understand both sides of the issue here; you don’t want to subject children to unneeded malice, especially toward animals, animated or not, especially when there’s so much negativity everywhere else you look. On the flip side, is our society becoming so sensitive that the core of this character is changed to shield children’s feelings for a few minutes before The Grinch’s heart grows bigger? Whatever reason they chose to stray from The Grinch that we all grew up with, the fact is, he’s not a grinch. He’s annoyed at Christmas because he’s lonely and does something drastic. The Grinch changing so drastically from a hateful goblin to a loving person in the original incarnations better illustrates the power of Christmas and the spirit of giving. When the meanest thing you did today was try to avoid someone who thinks you like them, there’s not that much of a change. The Grinch’s view on Christmas changed in this film, as a person he was basically already an alright guy.
Despite some of the changes to the core of The Grinch, the film is still a testament to the spirit of Christmas and will surely entertain children of all ages. With some excellent animation, voice acting, and a great message all around, this will be a go-to Christmas film for many homes. As much as I disliked the narration, the song choices and the somewhat tame version of The Grinch, I still found the film quite enjoyable with many laughs and smiles along the way. It may not have been the film I would have liked, but hey, I’m a grown man and can go back and watch the cartoon if I want. It’s a film for kids, and this hits all the right notes for them to enjoy it.
Video
The Grinch is presented in 2160p 4k Ultra High Definition Widescreen 2.39:1 which includes HDR and Dolby Vision. The Dolby Vision looks stunning, with the dynamic meta data changing the settings in each scene to look as good as possible. It’s obviously a very colorful film, and those colors are so brilliantly vibrant throughout the film. Balance looks exceptional, with the bright Christmas colors and contrasting nicely with the white backgrounds. There were no issues I saw with the transfer, and I honestly don’t know how it could look any better than it does here.
The Blu-Ray version is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.39:1.
Audio
The audio is presented in Dolby Atmos, with booming and powerful sound coming from all channels. Although this won’t take full advantage of those atmos speakers, there is still a lot of stuff going on in the film to keep your surrounds occupied, providing a great balance of sound that never overpowers the dialogue coming from the center channel. The score sounds great here as well, with one of my favorite moments in the film being the Pentatonix song. The rest, however, was kind of a disappointment. Not technically by any means, just overall stylistic choice in my opinion. We all know the deep and commanding voice of Thurl Ravenscroft. Although you may not be familiar with the name, his vocals from the original cartoon is what you immediately recall when thinking of that film. What a change we get in this film with countless rap songs in which the singer sounds like he’s falling off a cliff. I’m not against the style of music, but it doesn’t seem like the style fits here whatsoever.
Special Features
One of the great things about children’s films these days is the plethora of bonus material that’s always included. Fans of the film will be pleased with the featurettes, and kids will find continued entertainment with three mini movies. Also, all the bonus features are included in 4k resolution on the 4k disc, something that’s not done a lot. For not having to switch discs to watch the bonus materials, we thank you!
- From Green to Screen
- Illuminating The Grinch
- Who’s Who in Who-Ville
- My Earliest Grinch Memories
- Grinchy Gadgets
- “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” Lyric Video
- “I Am The Grinch” Lyric Video
- Songs From His Little Heart
- Any Who Can Draw
- X-Mas Around the World
- Ciny-Lou’s Yule Dog
- Production Babies
- Yellow Is the New Black Mini-Movie
- The Dog Days of Winter Mini-Movie
- Santa’s Little Helpers Mini-Movie
- The Making of the Mini-Movies
The Grinch portrays one of the most famous anti-Christmas villains a lot less harsh than its predecessors. While it succeeds at providing a heartwarming story and important message for kids, it’s up to you whether or not these changes make or break the film. In my experience, the target audience isn’t going to care one bit and will enjoy it to their hearts content. For the parents out there, there’s always the cartoon.
