Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
In the town of Thnedville, a young boy named Ted Wiggins (Zac Efron) wants to impress a girl named Audrey (Taylor Swift). In order to impress her, Ted will need to get a tree. There's only one problem. The entire town is fake. Everything is made of plastic including the plant life. So Ted asks his parents where he can get a real tree, but they don't know. Then his grandma (Betty White) tells him about a man named the Once-Ler (Ed Helms). He knew everything about what happened to the real trees. So Ted goes searching for the Once-Ler and once he finds him outside of town, the Once-Ler agrees to help after he tells Ted the story of The Lorax (Danny DeVito), the speaker for the trees, and the ups and downs of his business selling Thneads.
This movie is actually pretty funny. I got a few chuckles, especially from Danny DeVito, and I noticed that the little kids were having fun laughing with the characters. The music was absolutely amazing. If I had to pick my favorite, it would be "How Bad Can I Be?". That song just showed that the Once-Ler didn't even know that he was being wrong on his actions. It made his character more realistic since it showed how much he knew of his impact on the environment. As for the message of the film, it's a great lesson to teach the young children. It teaches kids to respect Mother Earth instead of destroying it. The design of the forest is amazing. It's bright, colorful, and full of life. It just pops and I didn't see it in 3D. There were a couple of touching moments in the film actually. This movie just knew how to set up a perfect touching moment and I came close to having a tear come down during some parts of the movie.
This movie had a few problems. While I did enjoy the message of the film, it was definitely forced. Once The Lorax is introduced into the movie, the movie never shuts up about its message. There are times when the movie doesn't make you choke on its message, such as the funeral scene where the first tree is cut down to when the last tree is cut down, but every other second during the flashbacks, the movie never shuts up about it. I understand that this is becoming more important as time goes by, but there's no need to constantly remind us that saving the forest is important. As for the Once-Ler himself, I felt as if the movie was trying to make him a main villain, since he got the majority of screen time and did the most evil-doing in the film, however he didn't come off as evil. He seemed more misunderstood. He was simply trying to do business and he had to make sacrifices. I didn't see any need to make him the villain. Mr. O'Hare (Rob Riggle) seemed more like a villain, but he didn't get as much screen time or do as much villainy. He was a dictator of a seemingly perfect town. So why didn't he get more screen time and do more villainy? As for the side story of Ted trying to get a tree for Audrey, I didn't see any need for it. It seemed it was just put in to make the movie longer. The story that the Once-Ler told was what I came to see, but that wasn't the main story and that's a shame because it could of been, but since it's not, the movie's interrupted a lot by the side-plot. It's definitely obvious that the creator of Despicable Me was the one that made this movie. I don't have a problem with Despicable Me, but how the side characters in both this movie and that one is humiliating. All the forest animals seem to be put in just to keep the kid's attention. Once the fuzzy bears and little fish left the screen, the kids stopped caring about the movie, but the second they came back, the kids were having fun again. It just shows that the director is too lazy to make a movie that will keep the kid's attention all the time. So he threw in these characters just to make sure the kids watch it. *Spoiler* Why couldn't the Once-Ler plant the seed at the end of the movie? There was nothing keeping him back. If a kid can get out and in of a city, then an adult should be able to get in and plant a seed. It just seemed like a pointless way to make the side-story of Ted and Audrey combine with the story of The Lorax, but it doesn't work because the movie never explained why the Once-Ler couldn't of done it.
So is this movie worth seeing? Definitely, but only for around matinee price. I know that it sounded like I had a lot of problems with this movie, and I do, but most of my problems are nit-picks or don't take away from the overall enjoyment of the movie. Also, according to who I saw the movie with, most of my problems were in the book also, which I haven't read. It's a great way to kill an hour and a half with the kids. If you're not a kid, you should still at least rent this movie for some enjoyment from the songs and the beautiful world.
This movie is actually pretty funny. I got a few chuckles, especially from Danny DeVito, and I noticed that the little kids were having fun laughing with the characters. The music was absolutely amazing. If I had to pick my favorite, it would be "How Bad Can I Be?". That song just showed that the Once-Ler didn't even know that he was being wrong on his actions. It made his character more realistic since it showed how much he knew of his impact on the environment. As for the message of the film, it's a great lesson to teach the young children. It teaches kids to respect Mother Earth instead of destroying it. The design of the forest is amazing. It's bright, colorful, and full of life. It just pops and I didn't see it in 3D. There were a couple of touching moments in the film actually. This movie just knew how to set up a perfect touching moment and I came close to having a tear come down during some parts of the movie.
This movie had a few problems. While I did enjoy the message of the film, it was definitely forced. Once The Lorax is introduced into the movie, the movie never shuts up about its message. There are times when the movie doesn't make you choke on its message, such as the funeral scene where the first tree is cut down to when the last tree is cut down, but every other second during the flashbacks, the movie never shuts up about it. I understand that this is becoming more important as time goes by, but there's no need to constantly remind us that saving the forest is important. As for the Once-Ler himself, I felt as if the movie was trying to make him a main villain, since he got the majority of screen time and did the most evil-doing in the film, however he didn't come off as evil. He seemed more misunderstood. He was simply trying to do business and he had to make sacrifices. I didn't see any need to make him the villain. Mr. O'Hare (Rob Riggle) seemed more like a villain, but he didn't get as much screen time or do as much villainy. He was a dictator of a seemingly perfect town. So why didn't he get more screen time and do more villainy? As for the side story of Ted trying to get a tree for Audrey, I didn't see any need for it. It seemed it was just put in to make the movie longer. The story that the Once-Ler told was what I came to see, but that wasn't the main story and that's a shame because it could of been, but since it's not, the movie's interrupted a lot by the side-plot. It's definitely obvious that the creator of Despicable Me was the one that made this movie. I don't have a problem with Despicable Me, but how the side characters in both this movie and that one is humiliating. All the forest animals seem to be put in just to keep the kid's attention. Once the fuzzy bears and little fish left the screen, the kids stopped caring about the movie, but the second they came back, the kids were having fun again. It just shows that the director is too lazy to make a movie that will keep the kid's attention all the time. So he threw in these characters just to make sure the kids watch it. *Spoiler* Why couldn't the Once-Ler plant the seed at the end of the movie? There was nothing keeping him back. If a kid can get out and in of a city, then an adult should be able to get in and plant a seed. It just seemed like a pointless way to make the side-story of Ted and Audrey combine with the story of The Lorax, but it doesn't work because the movie never explained why the Once-Ler couldn't of done it.
So is this movie worth seeing? Definitely, but only for around matinee price. I know that it sounded like I had a lot of problems with this movie, and I do, but most of my problems are nit-picks or don't take away from the overall enjoyment of the movie. Also, according to who I saw the movie with, most of my problems were in the book also, which I haven't read. It's a great way to kill an hour and a half with the kids. If you're not a kid, you should still at least rent this movie for some enjoyment from the songs and the beautiful world.