Review of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) by Andrew B — 16 Feb 2012

Admittedly, I haven't watched the Chuck Jones special in years, though it was an annual tradition growing up. I saw this in the theater at nearly 8 years old and thought it was fine. Ah the innocence of youth...

There is a lot of padding, most of all the "Whobilation" sequence, and it's a full 1hr15min till the Grinch loads up his sleigh and heads down to Whoville. The part where he steals from the Whos actually wasn't bad, but the sequence where he heads back up Mt. Crumpet and the Whos wake up was drawn out and boring. There's some chuckles here and there, but mostly it's really kind of uncomfortable to watch.

The love interest, Martha May Whovier, was actually pretty cute as a young girl in the flashback... so why did they make her look like a sexpot as an adult (not to mention in a FAMILY movie)??? The Grinch himself works all right while he's supposed to be a mean dude, but when he's supposed to be nicer, his act starts falling apart, as he doesn't seem different enough from before his heart grew three sizes that day.

Overall, not very good.

2/5 stars.

UPDATE: Okay, just watched a good portion of this in the car this morning, and yes, I laughed/chuckled numerous times at the Grinch's spastic antics. I still think a few gags were just inappropriate and unnecessary, but I think it was nice mindless fun for the time being.