trailer review
Hollywood’s fondness for revisiting familiar ground keeps leading to the rehashing of old, well-known tales, which explains why we’re about to get another adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ children’s book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957).
The classic story of the holiday-hating curmudgeon was turned into an animated television special with Boris Karloff voicing the titular character in 1966, and then adapted into a live-action movie starring Jim Carrey in 2000.
Now Illumination Entertainment has created a big screen animated adventure inspired by the Christmas tale. Directed by Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier, The Grinch finds Benedict Cumberbatch voicing its anti-hero protagonist, the infamous grump who, disgruntled by the loud, merry celebrations of his neighbours in Whoville, decides to steal Christmas.
The trailer doesn’t shed much light on the overall arc of the tale and focuses mainly on a handful of mostly middling gags. An in-joke about the very unhappy Grinch being woken up by his alarm clock playing Pharrell Williams’s ‘Happy’ (the popular tune from the soundtrack of Illuminations’ Despicable Me 2) is more groan-inducing than amusing.
We don’t see anything particularly inspired or original in this short two minute preview, and it all feels a bit “meh”. Plus there isn’t enough dialogue in the trailer to judge how well Cumberbatch’s voice acting will fit in the titular role.
The animation itself, however, looks good. The character designs are impressive, and the protagonist’s loyal dog, Max, in particular, is absolutely adorable.
The question that this project – and many others like it – raises is: do we really need another adaptation of something we have already seen before? Wouldn’t it be more impressive and entertaining if studios try to create something original instead of going back to the same old ideas?
So far this attempt to revisit the Grinch’s story seems unnecessary and a tad underwhelming. However, Cumberbatch’s presence alone gives us hope that the movie will itself prove to be amusing and entertaining.
The Grinch will be released on 9th November, 2018.
- Sameen Amer
The Express Tribune Blogs - 19th March, 2018 *
Hollywood’s fondness for revisiting familiar ground keeps leading to the rehashing of old, well-known tales, which explains why we’re about to get another adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ children’s book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957).
The classic story of the holiday-hating curmudgeon was turned into an animated television special with Boris Karloff voicing the titular character in 1966, and then adapted into a live-action movie starring Jim Carrey in 2000.
Now Illumination Entertainment has created a big screen animated adventure inspired by the Christmas tale. Directed by Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier, The Grinch finds Benedict Cumberbatch voicing its anti-hero protagonist, the infamous grump who, disgruntled by the loud, merry celebrations of his neighbours in Whoville, decides to steal Christmas.
The trailer doesn’t shed much light on the overall arc of the tale and focuses mainly on a handful of mostly middling gags. An in-joke about the very unhappy Grinch being woken up by his alarm clock playing Pharrell Williams’s ‘Happy’ (the popular tune from the soundtrack of Illuminations’ Despicable Me 2) is more groan-inducing than amusing.
We don’t see anything particularly inspired or original in this short two minute preview, and it all feels a bit “meh”. Plus there isn’t enough dialogue in the trailer to judge how well Cumberbatch’s voice acting will fit in the titular role.
The animation itself, however, looks good. The character designs are impressive, and the protagonist’s loyal dog, Max, in particular, is absolutely adorable.
The question that this project – and many others like it – raises is: do we really need another adaptation of something we have already seen before? Wouldn’t it be more impressive and entertaining if studios try to create something original instead of going back to the same old ideas?
So far this attempt to revisit the Grinch’s story seems unnecessary and a tad underwhelming. However, Cumberbatch’s presence alone gives us hope that the movie will itself prove to be amusing and entertaining.
The Grinch will be released on 9th November, 2018.
- Sameen Amer
The Express Tribune Blogs - 19th March, 2018 *
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