Dr. Seuss' The Lorax: An IMAX 3D Experience

Tree Huggers

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Rated: PG Brief mild language.
Release Date: March 2, 2012
Runtime: 1 hr 26 mins

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Director:  Chris Renaud, Kyle Balda

Writers: Ken Daurio, Coinco Paiul, based on the book by Dr. Seuss
Cast:  Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White, Rob Riggle

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SYNOPSIS: For Ted to win the affection of the girl he likes, he must find a tree outside the metropolis of Thneedville. In order to do so, he must hunt down a hermit industrialist to tell him the tale of The Lorax, The Guardian of the Forest in a world where natural foliage no longer exists.

REVIEW: Chris Renaud, the director of Despicable Me and its upcoming sequel, takes on the colorful task of bringing another tale of the good Dr. Seuss to life on the big screen. Although The Lorax was brought to animated life as a short television cartoon by Dr Seuss and Eddie Albert in 1972, screenwriters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul (Hop, Despicable Me, Horton Hears a Who!) develop a longer version for the big screen of theaters and the bigger screens of an IMAX 3D Experience.

In Thneedville, young 12-year-old Ted (Zac Efron, New Year's Eve) pines away for the affection of neighbor Audrey (Taylor Swift, Valentine's Day). One day, while coming up with an excuse to see her, she invites him in to show him her mural on the back of her house covered with strange designs - trees! Realizing that Audrey would appreciate him more if he gave her a tree, Ted asks his mother (Jenny Slate, This Means War) and Grammy Norma (Betty White, The Proposal) about where he should start his search. Grammy tells Ted the myth that a man named the Once-Ler (Ed Helms, The Hangover: Part 2) that could lead him to a tress. Once Ted leaves the confines of the walled Thneedville, he enters a wasteland of smog, spoiled rivers, and tree stumps that leads to a dilapidated building with a disgruntled and regretful Once-Ler. Once there, the Once-Ler, with only his green gloved hands and shadowed face, slowly regals Ted with the tale of his arrival to a plush forested, animal filled valley and the events that lead to the arrival of the Lorax (Danny DeVito, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and the destruction of all of the trees of the forest.

The Lorax, from the original book to the short television cartoon to this Spring's big screen version, is a statement of environmentalism and mindless capitalism. The Lorax is the ultimate tree hugger as the spirits of the earth summon him after the Once-Ler chops down his first tree for the leaves he needs to create his Thneed, the 'thing that everyone needs'. Emerging from the felled tree's stump, the Lorax communes with the other forest animals and warns the Once-Ler that if he continues to decimate the forest with his ax he will be cursed to the end of his days. But in these days of short attention spans and desensitization, simple deforestation for the advance of the almighty dollar is not enough. In The Lorax, Ted and all the citizens of Thneedville face another challenge. Because of the lack of trees and foliage, smog and poor air quality has led to the success of the bottled and in-home air market in the form of O'Hare Air, the brainchild of man-child Mr. O'Hare (Rob Riggle, Big Miracle). When his multiple Big Brother cameras find Ted repeatedly stealing out of town to hear the Once-Ler's story, Mr O'Hare worries that the boy will ruin his plans for continued wealth by finding one remaining tree that could provide air for free.

Dreamworks, the studio that created Hop and Despicable Me, does a beautiful job at recrafting the world of Dr. Seuss.  The Humming fish are spot-on, the teddy bearlike Bar-ba-Loots furry and fluffy, the birds lanky and feathered. Even the woolly, swirly striped Truffala trees look like they sprung directly from the page to a colorful 3D artwork.  Like Horton Hears a Who! before it, The Lorax is a vibrant, colorful, faithful representation of what Seuss originally penned to paper as words and illustrations.

One of the major differences between Horton Hears a Who! and The Lorax is the music. In The Lorax, the story opens with a musical number outlining the type of town Thneedville is - with concrete, towering structures, blow-up bushes and battery-powered trees with light globes instead of leaves. Ed Helms lends his specific musical style, a la The Office and The Hangover, to the young Once-ler with his electric guitar strapped to his back and a doop-de-do on his lips. Other than the end credit song and the hard rappy 'How bad Can I Be?', the soundtrack songs fall a little flat for anyone older than a 4-year child.

The Lorax was a doom and gloom environmentalist's tale released as a children's book years before tree hugging became vogue. Industrialized society and selfish corporate materialistic greed run rampant in the film, a plot that is a little heavy-handed for a film supposedly geared to children. Even Ewan MacGregor's Robots turned their adult message into something more farcical for the children's enjoyment. Crisp and detailed, The Lorax is faithful to Seuss' source material. Unfortunately, that faithfulness, and the addition of equally heavy subject matter, works against the success of the film.

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WORTH: Rental

You Again

Bringing Baggage to a Wedding

[Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Odette Yustman, Sigourney Weaver, Victor Garber]

image from Masslive.com

RANT: As other extra-curricular events have taken precedence over the last few weeks, I have fallen behind in my moviegoing. In a bankrupting attempt to catch up, I have being actually going to movies on Friday nights. Each theater has a different atmosphere on Friday nights than it does for a Saturday matinee, such as how audience members talk out at the silver screen, but every trip is an adventure.

SYNOPSIS: When Marni finds out that her older brother is going to marry the girl who bullied and terrorized her during high school, Marni sets out to expose her for the liar she is.

Andy Fickman, known for Disney's "Race To Witch Mountain", directs Christen Bell in a story written by Moe Jelline. Touting some serious star female star power with Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Kristin Chenoweth and rising viral Twitter and Facebook icon, Betty White. Victor Garber, Jimmy Wolk and Kyle Bornheimer balance the acting scales with some notoriety of their own.

Marni was a bookwormy, pimply, bang-hair cut teenager in high school, tortured by super popular, super pretty chearleader captain J.J. The opening sequence shows Marni giving an awkward VHS confessional for the 2052 high school time capsule, being lifted up by J.J. and her cool crew to be deposited on the school steps and locked outside, being mooed at because of the initials of her name, and becoming a Youtube phenomenon when J.J. smacks Marni’s head around while in the school mascot Gator costume, causing her to stumble onto the basketball court to ruin the last jumpshot of their team to lose the game.

And even though her big brother, Will, always looks out for Marni, she nevertheless suffers through to graduation and afterward uses that angst to change her look and succeed as a public relations executive. But as soon as she flies home to meet her brother’s fiancee, she finds out that her brother is marrying Joanna – aka J.J., returning to that insecure high schooler. J.J. is now a sweet, affectionate, giving RN nurse, dedicating herself to the brother. Marni’s family love and dote on J.J. – even the dog runs past Marni to be scratched by her. Marni then makes it her mission to expose J.J. for the lying, shallow girl that she must still be. And when J.J.’s aunt Ramona comes to town, Marni’s turn-the-other-cheek mom, Gail, finds that she also has some BFF issues to resolve as well.

“You Again” sets up interesting ways to actually return Marni to the same physicality as she had as a teenager. An ant hill, a jogging trail, and denture gel all play their part. And as the family goes to a rehearsal for wedding party dance lessons, the cattiness and competitiveness between soon-to-be sisters and Marni’s mother and J.J’s aunt offers up a few laughs.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver are excellent as always. At times, they do not seemed to have aged a day. Odette Yustman is picture perfect as the high school beautiful bully, but does not pull off the sincerity of her new-found nature as well as I would have liked. Victor Garber is wonderfully stoic and oblivious as Marni’s father. Jimmy Wolk is a good mix of affection and anger to both his fiancee and sister. J.J.’s ex-boyfriend Tim, played by Kyle Bornheimer, offers up some awkward and funny moments as well. And Grandma Bunny, played by Hollywood’s go to grandma Betty White, is almost as enduring as she was in “The Proposal”.

“You Again” delves into the baggage that we all carry through our lives. There is not a person, guy or girl, that doesn’t have a regret or grudge that has festered over the years stemming from an episode or series of events from our impressionable past. The fact that just seeing the person of our contempt can erase years of self esteem and self worth is a truly human experience just shows that we are sometimes not as well off as the rest of the animal kingdom.

“You Again” has some laughs and some tender moments, although the story is a little far-fetched in spots. And while the movie made me think of the baggage that all Man carries (and all Woman), it also made me think that I should have spent my money on “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” instead.

Worth: Matinee

I am also trying out a new rating system shown below based on reader reaction to my somewhat complex monetary rating scale. I will give both ratings and see what kind of reaction I muster. A movie can receive up to 5 popcorn buckets. Why popcorn buckets? Because I am a slave to the thousand + calorie delight! Enjoy!