Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

The Grinch (2018)

This film is fun entertainment with a few flaws but overall a fun film. This film has been getting mixed reviews among the critics and audiences and after seeing the film I understand the views on both sides. The film dose a entertaining and good job at retelling this Christmas classic but also falls into some rather big flaws that could of easily been avoided or altogether fixed. The Grinch (2018) is not a terrible film it's also not better then the adaptations that came before it either it's just a fun film to enjoy. 

First off, the casting for this film was well done the choice to have Benedict Cumberbatch do the voice of the Grinch was a great choice but I have mixed feelings on his take on the Grinchy one. He plays the character with a more soft and not as mean quality properly due to the fact they wanted this film to appeal to kids and not make it scary but rather lighthearted ok I understand that but you can't take away what makes the Grinch the Grinch. So it's not as much as Benedict's fault he did the best with what he was given but it's the tone this film set and how it was set by its director that made it a mixed bag for me. 

One one hand the film looks stunning it really looks well animated and is a very visually stunning film the animation really is vibrant and brings the colours to life in amazing animation. That I have to admit I loved it's just the execution of the story that could of been done in a different way. Say what you want about the Jim Carrey version but you have to admit Jim really became the Grinch from the makeup to his performance he did the Grinch justice with the portrayal he's always been known for in the book but here they soften him up to tone it down for kids which really annoys me. Because the whole reason by the end of the film when he redeems himself you believe him because he makes this change in his character arc from being a total mean man to being a loving and accepting person of Christmas here he doesn't really have that arc to make you satisfied by the end because he doesn't really have that character arc. That to me was the biggest flaw I couldn't overlook but now since I have talked about the flaws I think I should do the positives.

What I liked about the film, like I said earlier is the animation but also the decision to have Max play a bigger part in the film was a interesting choice and I was actually fine with that because you get to see so much more of him and it dose result in really fun moments onscreen. As well their are a good amount of well deserved funny and fun moments in this film I don't hate this film it's just a mediocre film that could of been great.

Overall, the Grinch (2018) gives a great update to the classic with its great animation but falters with its execution of what made us love the Grinch resulting in a fun film that had the potential to be so much more.

This film centres on a man named the Grinch who hates all the festive and Christmas joy that comes with the holiday and comes up with an idea to steal Christmas 

Rated PG : for brief rude humour 

Benedict Cumberbatch : Benedict dose a passable Job as the Grinch! Cumberbatch has a very well recognizable voice and I'm glad he decided to go with the American accent for this as if he used his normal British accent it would of distracted me from his portrayal of the Grinch he dose a passable job as the Grinch he decides to go with is more lighthearted and soft which isn't what the Grinch is resulting in Benedict having to use a rather warm and welcoming sound that came off more as funny rather then mean. Not saying it's his fault but he dose work best with what he's given. He really has fun with the role giving a totally different take on the character having great moments of humour and fun which comes across greatly in his performance as Cumberbatch try's his absolute hardest to do this character justice and for the work he put in he did a good job. He brings the style and wit of the Grinch just not his mean characteristic that made him so beloved. Benedict creates a version of the grinch for younger audiences that will fall in love with his performance as it's fun, charming and witty all the great things Cumberbatch brings to the film overall Cumberbatch dose a interesting take for the new generation of the Grinch but is overall a fun one to be entrained by.

Yarrow Cheney & Scott Mosier : From the director of the secret life of pets and the producer of Clarks written by the team behind snow dogs and you me and Dupree what could go wrong? Oh that's right everything. These two filmmakers I am not familiar with I know they did secret life of pets which I haven't seen but based purely off this film their two filmmakers with interesting visions but poor execution. I don't want to be harsh but this is a classic everyone loves and when they decided to tone it down that concerned me because the entire reason we revisit that book every year is for that grumpy guy that lives in mount crumpet. Here they totally erase all of that in favour of a young demographic which is fine if you want to appeal to kids but the 1966 version is for kids and still had that magic and to many is still the best adaption of the book. So why would they change it tone wise is the grinch to scary for kids now? And at the same time it's a spit in the face of the adaption of the book because since they soften up the grinch he isn't even the grinch he has mean moments sure but for the most part he's just a guy who occasionally dose somewhat mean things that's it. The locals like him and they talk to him that's not the grinch I know so I was downright upset with their retelling of this story and how they stripped away every quality that made the Grinch the character we love. As well they add these side characters that do very little to move the plot along instead they slow down the plot for a cheap laugh and then continue on with the story. The directors really water downed this story to make it appeal to strictly kids and changed so much of the source material to the point it's not even a justifiable adaption to the book at all. Sure it follows the same beats as the book in the last 20 minutes of the film which the original cartoon was just 25 minutes and was able to do amazing work within that time so why couldn't a film that's 1h and 45 minutes do that. What they also did wrong was make this film so damn long it's almost two hours they could of made this film a TV movie that was 45 minutes and trimmed off so much of the crappy baggage that came with it that detracted the key story. Overall this film is great to look at visually but downright insulting to its source material with an overlong messy, water downed version these directors should of put some care into this film instead of making it just another cheap animated film that it results in.