Voiced by Natalie Gadeikis, Staff Writer
Written by Alberto Gomez, Entertainment Editor
The animation studio Illumination is not known for quality storytelling, the three Despicable Me films are prime examples. Illumination is not known for elegant animation, 2016’s Sing is the closest to pretty the studio has gotten. Walking into the theater for 2018’s The Grinch, neither qualities were expected to show up. And then The Grinch passed expectations, which is not saying much.
The Grinch is another retelling of yet another Dr. Suess story and Illumination’s third Dr. Suess film. 2008’s Horton Hears A Who… existed… and 2012’s The Lorax fell flat on its face, both plagued by snail speed pacing, and cheap, bland humor. Yet, The Grinch didn’t fail for me. While many jokes remained drawn out and long-winded with substandard punchlines, they weren’t not funny, so immediately The Grinch has improved upon any other Illumination movie.
But the humor is not what makes The Grinch OK This film is wildly beautiful, elegantly animated, and super fun to look at. It’s a wonderfully colorful and surprisingly inventive animation style. While not groundbreaking, The Grinch shows off what animation is possible of.
And that’s really all that The Grinch accomplishes. Benedict Cumberbatch gives a decent performance job voicing the Grinch, but he himself was not funny, rather the visual gags were what made the movie fun. Illumination doesn’t make heart-wrenching stories, so if audiences expect a meaningful and decent story, this isn’t the movie. The quality of storytelling is comparable to a Hallmark movie, sure it’s cute, but it doesn’t really make a difference. There are no stakes, the movie remains extremely safe, it breaks no ground. The greatest accomplishment this movie has is that it’s pretty, but a person can only look at the Mona Lisa for so long.