The Lorax (Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift) : Movie Review
March 31, 2012 by Jess Lomas
Filed under Movie Reviews, Movies
The latest Dr Seuss adaptation to hit our screens is The Lorax, directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me) and Kyle Balda (animator on A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc.), and with a screenplay by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul (Despicable Me, Horton Hears a Who!).
The team behind this film have a collective body of work that has provided box office and critical success, yet their latest offering leaves a definite bad taste in the mouth.
Zac Efron voices 12-year-old Ted who lives in Thneed-Ville with his mother and grandmother, Grammy Norma (Betty White). He has a crush on Audrey (Taylor Swift) and discovers the key to her heart, bringing her a real life tree.
The residents of Thneed-Ville have never seen a tree before; their town thrives on plastic and bottled fresh air, thanks to the evil businessman Mr. O’Hare (Rob Riggle).
Grammy tells Ted he must go and speak to The Once-ler (Ed Helmes), to discover what happened to all the trees. After leaving the town border and discovering a virtual wasteland, Ted tracks down The Once-ler to hear his story about The Lorax (Danny DeVito) and what happened to all of the trees.
Filled with forgettable musical numbers, The Lorax feels like it’s been churned out of the Hollywood machine with little thought or heart. While the Truffula Trees are animated beautifully, the use of 3-D is again questionable, and the overly cartoonised world created feels manufactured.
Dr Suess' The Lorax
It’s not that the environmental message is forced down the audience’s throat, but that it takes a backseat to the “romance” between Ted and Audrey, as though a young boy wanting to learn about trees and the environment off his own steam isn’t a worthy enough plot.
The film has been a big hit with audiences overseas and it’s not hard to see why a young child might enjoy the film, what with the colourful characters and physical-style of comedy being employed, but on closer inspection one might discover The Lorax to be an entirely average offering.
WATCH OUT FOR | RATING : 2 OUT OF 5