Just stick with the book
There’s not much cheer in this rehash of Dr Seuss’ Christmas classic.
The Grinch
Directors: Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier.
Voice cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, Cameron Seely, Angela Lansbury, Pharrell Williams.
WAS the studio in such a creative pinch, That they had to make another film based on The Grinch?
Sure, it’s a Chritmas story that’s as classic as can be, But wasn’t there another Yuletide story?
Dr Seuss’s classic book has had one adaptation too many,
And we’re still trying to forget the one with Jim Carrey.
This has Benedict Cumberbatch as the star of the show,
But even his star power gets stuck in the snow.
You’ve read the book, you know the drill, So no need to explain the plot, I feel, Well, there’s the Grinch, alone and angry, Who hates Christmas and all things cheery.
Below him is Whoville, a town of happiness, Where they absolutely love to celebrate Christmas.
One day, the Grinch said: “Enough is enough!” “I’m going to steal all of their Christmas-y stuff!”
And that’s the whole story, sweet and short, It’s really that simple, believe it or not.
It’s good that they stayed somewhat true to the book, But I wish they did more than just make it look good.
Because there really wasn’t much story to tell, And it was hard to get into what they were trying to sell There’s a lot of preaching about the Christmas spirit, But the plot only scratches the surface of all of it.
It just takes you hostage on the Christmas train, And hammers it in you again and again. And again and again and again and again, Till the magic of Christmas is ingrained in your brain.
It keeps telling you that Christmas is great, But it’s all so vague, to why this date the Grinch hates, Most of it is about him working fast and hard, And some little girl who then melts his heart.
And when it came to that climatic finish, There it was, poof, with nary a flourish. No punch, pizzazz, yahoo and how, Like someone just said: “Let’s end this now.
It’s great that Cumberbatch got the whole show to steal, But the other voices were not that big of a deal. They all sounded like how you’ve heard them before, In the last three animated films, or maybe four.
It’s also strange how bland they made the movie, Basically stripping it of any form of personality. It’s like they made it as inoffensive as they could, But never stopped to wonder if they really should.
Should you watch The Grinch? Maybe you can, If you had kids who are aged four to 10. Otherwise, you’re better off reading the book. No, really, go give it another look.