Review of The Grinch (2018) by Jacob S — 09 Dec 2018

Just got done with this movie, and the best thing I can say about this is it isn't as bad as that Jim Carrey atrocity. There were some entertaining moments, and some solid laughs, but as someone who grew up with the original Grinch TV movie, this still falls short for a few reasons.

1. They got Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead as the Grinch, and then rather than channeling Boris Karloff, he did some weird high pitched voice. What a wasted chance to recapture some of the magic from the original film.

2. Annoying Grinch backstory. Although not as hamfisted as Ron Howard's 2000 hatchet job, it was still terrible. The Grinch was just a mean guy. Why can't they just leave it at that.

3. Cindy Lou Who has a single mom now? Really? This part of the movie was so out of place that it was jarring. It's one of those moves that reeks of Hollywood. You can just hear the executives in the room coming up with it. "Ooh, you know what would make it's relevant to today's audiences.... a single mom!" Everyone in the room kisses ass, and my childhood dies just a little more.

None of this is to say the movie was awful, there were some solid laughs, and the animation was well done, but this could have been much better, if only it had been made by someone who care rather shat out of the Hollywood money hole. All in all, I don't hate the world after watching it which is good because I expect when it is released to video, I'm going to be seeing it a lot.