The Grinch hates Christmas, the Whos love it. Only here they love every materialistic craptastic aspect of it. The trimmings the trappings, the ribbons, the wrappings.
And, when the Grinch takes it away, do they come together to focus on what they have left; each other? Of cours- no, wait...Oh, that's right, they almost lose their fucking minds! I think before Cindy Lou intervened it was one step away from becoming a lynch mob! Well, this movie seems to have captured the heart and essence of the Whos who we so dearly love, let's proceed.
To begin, let's go over why the Grinch hates Christmas in the original book/animation special. Were his shoes too tight, was his head not screwed on quite right? Neither work reveals why. So, maybe the movie will take there lead and just have the Grinch being the Grinch withou- No? No, you're going to have a flashback explaining everything that we don't really need to have explained? Good. Good job, movie.
Why don't you just stick a 20 minute scene at the beginning of the movie, with the Grinch having an unhappy childhood, a redneck abusive step-father, a slutty older sister and a stripper mother... Wait, what remake am I thinking of with needless detail added?
So, the Grinch gets made fun of as a kid by the Whos, and it happened to be Christmas or close to it. And there we have it, our logical motivation for his hatred...-hold on. He hates Christmas because the Whos made fun of him? How does this have anything to do with the holiday? Why doesn't he hate the Whos directly and all year long? I mean, even the teacher in the flashback was laughing at the Grinch. No, those horribly mean and shallow Whos are fine 11 months out of the year. But, should they attempt a holiday celebration, that's going too far!
Okay, the Grinch hates Christmas...ish, and the Whos have no clues as to what makes Christmas Christmas. And, we have our other main character, Little Cindy Lou Who, who was clearly older than two. Cindy is the only character that knows what Christmas is about, but why?
How did she come to this revelation all on her own? I'm sure some sort of over-used cliché could explain it. Is she...'ahead of her time'? Okay, whatever, that works, moving on.
The film gets points because it retains most of the rhymes from the book. Something the following films would move away from...in a Dr Seuss movie.
But, that song, 'Where Are You Christmas'? It feels just like Seuss, huh? I can't stand that saccharine pile of...that song.
I don't even remember the lyrics, all I could hear was “oh, I'm alooone in my beliefs, nobody understands meeeee and I'm saaad but hopefuuuul”. Ugh, her stupid little face..(*shaking with anger*) when she sings it, I do hate her.
What is some song that could very well be on any current pop Christmas album doing in a Seuss movie anyway? The Grinch's song was written by Seuss, and Carrey did very well singing it. I just, can’t...my brain hurts. I think I've overloaded my head with too much Seussian-poo.
If you're not going to try or even pretend to understand the tone of the original THEN DON'T MAKE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!! POP SONGS DON'T BELONG IN SEUSS MOVIES!!!
...Unless it’s The Lorax, The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who, or The Grinch, apparently.
Back to Cindy Lou, it just felt like we could have used more than only her to cheer for. Sure, we love the Grinch and we want him to steal Christmas, but that's because in doing so he would make apparent the level of love that ALL the Whos have for Christmas and everything that Christmas encompasses, and he can then have his epiphany.
Well, maybe the next Grinch film will get it right...
And, though this is a nitpick, I hate how they had Whoville exist on a snowflake a' la Horton when he heard a Who. It feels really forced.
The imagery reflecting the opening of the animated special is nice and looks great, but come on. We didn't need some random explanation as to where Whoville exists, even if it is similar to Horton. It was just unnecessary.
Wait, doesn’t the Grinch literally see Santa visiting Whoville just before he takes off in his rocket sled to steal the holiday? So, in addition to all the children of the world, there are also an unclear amount of microscopic worlds that Santy Claus tends to? HOW FUCKING LONG IS CHRISTMAS EVE??!