The Grinch

Cert: G; Now showing

With a head like a furry green teardrop and a wicked grin, the image of Dr Seuss’s humbugging Grinch will be better known to lovers of the classic book more so than Ron Howard’s quickly forgotten 2000 film version starring Jim Carrey.

This animated version will probably prove most effective at introducing what is essentially an updated Dickens standard to a new generation, while chucking in all the giddy frills that children today presumably demand, such as hip-hop music and technology gags.

And yet at its heart, it is an old-school sheen that is to thank for the “Christmas feels” this Grinch is able to send you away with. A sprinkle of Nick Park here (see the Wallace & Gromit nods). A dash of Nat King Cole there. The jokes might not floor adults as Pixar can but it might just get the greenest of grumps in the mood for festive frolics.

With a name like something from Dr Seuss itself, Benedict Cumberbatch is a fitting voice talent for the Grinch, scowling down at the cheery village of Who-ville and venturing down from his mountain only for supplies. Plans for Christmas celebrations are swelling this year by several degrees, so the Grinch hatches a scheme to steal every trace of Christmas from each house in a reverse-Santa caper. Meanwhile, little CindyLou wants to trap Santa to thank him for his good work. A collision course is set in motion.

A giddy sugar-rush that slows to reveal its big charms.