The Lorax Movie Review

When The Lorax (2012) hit theaters I heard a lot of people talking about how they had never heard of, or were unfamiliar with Dr. Seuss' book, The Lorax. That surprised me since I remember having it read to me as early as Kindergarten and seeing the 1972 animated TV special dozens of times. Oh, well. Maybe the movie will inspire people to go read the book.

In a walled in city of Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity, a boy named Ted (Zac Efron) hopes to win the heart of his dream girl, Audrey (Taylor Swift).  When he learns of her wishes to see a real tree, Ted seeks out The Once-ler (Ed Helms), a ruined old businessman outside of town in a stark wasteland. Upon hearing of how the hermit gave into his greed for profits and devastated the land over the protests of the forest guardian, The Lorax (Danny DeVito), Ted is inspired to undo the disaster. However, the greedy Mayor of Thneed-ville, Aloysius O'Hare (Rob Riggle), has made his fortune exploiting the environmental collapse and is determined to stop the boy from undermining his business. Ted ventures out to restore the devastated landscape with the help of Audry, his mother (Jenny Slate), and his Grammy Norma (Betty White) while eluding the ever watchful Mr. O'Hare.

The trailer for The Lorax (and probably my summary there) leads us to think that the bulk of the story revolves around Ted and Audrey. Their story is pertinent, but the bulk of the story revolved around the young aspiring entrepreneur, The Once-ler, and how he started his business making and selling Thneeds, and his conflict of interests with The Lorax. That story is told in flashbacks while Ted's present-day story effectuates the unfolding back-story. It's a neat storytelling device that worked well in the movie.

The thing that bugged me about The Lorax was they did a lot of stunts to pad the length of the movie. There were musical numbers that did nothing to move the story forward; most weren't even catchy. There were only two musical numbers that were useful in any way. The first was the opening song that described Thneed-Ville, how there is no nature in it, and how there's lots of things to distract people from environmental awareness. The other was about The Once-ler trying to convince himself that his business practices weren't so bad. Every other song was about something which was already established and they seemed to do the musical number out of a sense of obligation. Just because it's a musical, you don't have to do a 3 minute song for every little piece of plot development. There were also cute forest animals doing cute things that we spent a lot of time focusing on before the scene got going. It was cute and funny, yeah, but they did too much of it and it seemed to be there for no reason other than to extend the length of the movie.

The Lorax was released theatrically in 3D. I watched it on instant play on NetFlix. There were lots of scenes that were clearly meant to showcase some 3D effects, including things that obviously were meant to pop out at the audience, and several first-person shots during roller-coaster-like chase scenes. I'm sure it was impressive in 3D, but in a 2D format it looked like those scenes were specifically tailored to add three or four extra dollars to movie ticket costs. From an artistic standpoint, that says to me that box office sales were more important to the producers that showcasing a story through a unique art medium. That is sloppy movie making.

A lot of people were kicking up a stink about the environmentalist message in The Lorax. Yeah, don't wipe out the trees, but I think there's more to it than just the tree-hugging cautionary tale. Under that overt layer of theme I felt there were more subtle themes that were well incorporated. What is the price of success? Are you willing to sell your soul for that success? If you do, will it feel fulfilling to you? Another theme touched on corporate greed and the hazard of flooding the market with your products. Heed the words of The Lorax, Angry Birds! The story is about a young man driven to succeed by his family and he takes it too far; I felt that was more of The Lorax's theme than it was about convincing your kids to be tree-hugging hippies as Fox News was trying to prophesy.

The Lorax wasn't a bad movie. It had some pacing issues what with the extra antics and musical numbers to pad the length of the movie. It was kind of fun and exhibited some stellar animation. It feels a bit preachy at times, but like I said the underlying themes are more interesting than the more overt environmentalist theme. It's amusing and I'm sure young viewers will enjoy it a lot. Frankly, I thought the old thirty-minute TV Special was better than this hour and a half CGI-fest.

What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book or movie? Comment below and tell me why!

Hairspray Movie Review

I’ve heard that Hollywood musicals are making a comeback, but the only recent Hollywood musicals that I can think of are Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) and Across the Universe (2007). The other musicals that have hit theaters are movie versions of Broadway musicals; not true Hollywood musicals. Hairspray (2007), directed by Adam Shankman, is based off of a Broadway musical, which itself was based off of a non-musical movie by John Waters. This third telling of the story is teeming with energy and fun.

In 1962 Maryland, Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) is brimming with joy as she wakes up for school, singing “Good morning, Baltimore!” Tracy is an overweight teenager who knows all the latest dance moves. She and her friend Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes) live for the moment when school lets out to race home and watch “The Corny Collins” show, the local teenage TV dance show, with their favorite dancer Link Larkin (Zac Efron). Tracy’s mother, Edna (John Travolta), doesn’t approve of the show. But when tryouts for the show are announced, Tracy’s father, Wilbur (Christopher Walken), tells her to go for it and reach for the stars. Initially turned down by the TV station’s racist manager, Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her daughter Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow), Tracy’s dance moves later catch the eye of both Link Larkin and Corny Collins (James Marsden). When Tracy makes it onto the show, she begins a crusade to end the show’s “Negro Day,” hosted by Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), and fully integrate the show with black and white dancers. The Von Tussels fight tooth and manicured nail to keep the show a “whites only” program. Equal rights, gaining self-respect, social change, and overcoming racism and bigotry are all tackled with catchy musical numbers and energetic dancing.

This is Nikky Blonsky’s very first movie. In fact, she went from working at a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream store to starring in a major motion picture with big name actors. She does a fantastic job for her first role. Hairspray is a deliriously fun, happy, and energetic movie, primarily because Nikky Blonsky was at the heart of the film. She’s positively adorable, and exudes happiness and joy throughout the film. You can’t help but get swept up in her optimism and smile along with her. No wonder Link fell head over heels for her.

The all star cast was fantastic, but John Travolta was particularly interesting. Holding true to tradition, Edna Turnblad is played by a man. It was unexpected to see the masculine Travolta playing a woman, particularly a heavy set one. He even manages sound like a woman when he speaks. Edna is an insecure woman who is hasn’t left the house in years because she is self-conscious about her weight, but she has a big heart and is every bit as endearing as Tracy. I don’t see many John Travolta films, but this seems to be a very counter typecast role for him, and he does a great job. I have to praise the costume designers, too. Travolta’s hourglass-like fat suit was pretty convincing.

The art direction was fantastic. The set designs were amazing; they really pulled off the feel of the early 1960’s. This was before The Beatles, Vietnam, and the hippie movement, so most things looked clean and sensational; a lot like they were in the 1950’s. Clothing, color schemes, hair styles, cars, even large outdoor sets really made it feel like we are stepping back in time. Everything was stylized with lots of glitz and glamour, just like many graphic designs were in the early 60’s. Television was influential in that decade and was often visible in the background or was the focal point transitioning between scenes in this movie.

Lastly, the music in this movie was enjoyable. The opening number really draws you in and then doesn’t let go. All of the songs are engaging, the upbeat songs, slow songs, exciting songs, and romantic songs; all of them are memorable and fun. In many musicals there are story and character development interrupted by everyone bursting into song and dance. This is highly unrealistic, by any stretch of the imagination. But in the context of Hairspray, it seems much more natural since music and dance are major components to the plot and characters. I’ve seen some musicals where the songs are so similar to each other in terms of tempo, beat, and rhythm that it seems like you’re listening to the same song for two hours. Not so with Hairspray. The songs remain diverse and fun. The music doesn’t really let you go until after the grand finale. Even then, you’re still so engaged that you want to listen to the songs during the closing credits.

I love Hairspray! It’s so much fun to watch! It has good characters, great actors, fun songs, great art direction, clever humor, and a good story about overcoming discrimination in terms of race and appearance. Hairspray is a good selection for a family movie night; I think it’s worth owning. I have a copy of Hairspray on Blu-Ray on my movie shelf. I pull it out to watch after a rough day and I feel much better afterwards. You can’t help but feel happy watching it.