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Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
Cute & Colourful - Just For Kids
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax tells two stories, the first is about a young lad who wants to impress a girl by finding a tree in a treeless world. They've never seen one before and an evil millionaire who sells "air" to people will do anything to stop him, cause trees give people free air. The second story is about the person responsible for the lack of trees and his feud with the little orange guy known as The Lorax.
That would be my main problem with the film, the two story lines going at once make it hard to distinguish who the main character is. At first you would think it's Ted, voiced by Zac Efron who is in love with Audrey. He'll do anything to find this tree and the marketing guys thought it would be a good idea to sell the film as some kind of animated adventure flick about this guy looking for that one tree. Yet, this is not the case, half the storyline involves another character, The Once-Ler, voiced by Ed Helms. This storyline is where we are introduced to The Lorax, voiced by the perfect for animation, Danny DeVito. Neither storyline outshines the other and both sort of fall underneath each other as being uneventful and uninteresting.
Feeling uninterested in a film where there are two story lines to enjoy, is a bad thing. A lot of films have multiple story lines going on, known as the A, B, and C story lines, but here both are fighting for the A position. If this isn't the case, then why is the film called The Lorax? Why is that character all over the posters and trailers? The Lorax, has nothing to do in the film. He comes down when a tree is cut and he says "don't do that". That's it, nothing more. He makes the one character 'feel bad' for breaking a promise, but nothing more. I guess I expected a little more from someone being presented as such an important part of the storyline.
The animation is wonderful, which is the perfect medium for a Dr. Seuss story. Live action would fail, and it did. The colour is bright and enticing for kids, it works for the 3D as well because of the dark glasses. Speaking of the 3D, I'm still not a fan, because the ghosting is still very apparent and it didn't immerse me in the story, it was an excuse to let those wacky Dr. Seuss inventions fly at the screen.
Along with the colourful environment, the cuteness of the film cannot be denied. Little kids will love the fish, little bears, the one giant bear and of course The Lorax. These creatures are cute, cuddly and will make even the teenage girls let out the "awwwwws". These guys are in the Lorax storyline and whenever we are stuck with Ted in the plastic world, it gets a little dull. There is an exciting chase sequence with the main villain and Ted, which brings some excitement into the film.
The Lorax has a message and it does tend to beat you over the head with it. I felt that Pixar's Wall-E did the same thing, only better. The Lorax isn't a bad film, it's just not a great one. There's enough to keep the little ones entertained, with 3 musical numbers that bring back the memories of old Disney flicks. I'd like to see DeVito is more animated films, he seemed to be the only one who really brought any life into his character and he seemed to fit the role well. Swift is barely in it and could have been played by anyone. Animated films these days look for big names and not voice talent.
Animated films need to focus more on the story and not the voice actors. I think if this film had more meat to the story, I would have enjoyed it more. Unfortunately, it has to settle for being "just decent". If parents want to know that kids will enjoy it, they will. It will keep their attention for the running time, isn't that enough?
Cute & Colourful - Just For Kids
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax tells two stories, the first is about a young lad who wants to impress a girl by finding a tree in a treeless world. They've never seen one before and an evil millionaire who sells "air" to people will do anything to stop him, cause trees give people free air. The second story is about the person responsible for the lack of trees and his feud with the little orange guy known as The Lorax.
That would be my main problem with the film, the two story lines going at once make it hard to distinguish who the main character is. At first you would think it's Ted, voiced by Zac Efron who is in love with Audrey. He'll do anything to find this tree and the marketing guys thought it would be a good idea to sell the film as some kind of animated adventure flick about this guy looking for that one tree. Yet, this is not the case, half the storyline involves another character, The Once-Ler, voiced by Ed Helms. This storyline is where we are introduced to The Lorax, voiced by the perfect for animation, Danny DeVito. Neither storyline outshines the other and both sort of fall underneath each other as being uneventful and uninteresting.
Feeling uninterested in a film where there are two story lines to enjoy, is a bad thing. A lot of films have multiple story lines going on, known as the A, B, and C story lines, but here both are fighting for the A position. If this isn't the case, then why is the film called The Lorax? Why is that character all over the posters and trailers? The Lorax, has nothing to do in the film. He comes down when a tree is cut and he says "don't do that". That's it, nothing more. He makes the one character 'feel bad' for breaking a promise, but nothing more. I guess I expected a little more from someone being presented as such an important part of the storyline.
The animation is wonderful, which is the perfect medium for a Dr. Seuss story. Live action would fail, and it did. The colour is bright and enticing for kids, it works for the 3D as well because of the dark glasses. Speaking of the 3D, I'm still not a fan, because the ghosting is still very apparent and it didn't immerse me in the story, it was an excuse to let those wacky Dr. Seuss inventions fly at the screen.
Along with the colourful environment, the cuteness of the film cannot be denied. Little kids will love the fish, little bears, the one giant bear and of course The Lorax. These creatures are cute, cuddly and will make even the teenage girls let out the "awwwwws". These guys are in the Lorax storyline and whenever we are stuck with Ted in the plastic world, it gets a little dull. There is an exciting chase sequence with the main villain and Ted, which brings some excitement into the film.
The Lorax has a message and it does tend to beat you over the head with it. I felt that Pixar's Wall-E did the same thing, only better. The Lorax isn't a bad film, it's just not a great one. There's enough to keep the little ones entertained, with 3 musical numbers that bring back the memories of old Disney flicks. I'd like to see DeVito is more animated films, he seemed to be the only one who really brought any life into his character and he seemed to fit the role well. Swift is barely in it and could have been played by anyone. Animated films these days look for big names and not voice talent.
Animated films need to focus more on the story and not the voice actors. I think if this film had more meat to the story, I would have enjoyed it more. Unfortunately, it has to settle for being "just decent". If parents want to know that kids will enjoy it, they will. It will keep their attention for the running time, isn't that enough?
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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."
Suspect's Reviews
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."
Suspect's Reviews
Last edited by TheUsualSuspect; 03-21-12 at 01:23 AM.
