The Lorax Movie Review: Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Now Showing in Metro Manila Cinemas

 

 

“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” 

 

The message of the film still resounds true after forty-one years when “The Lorax”, the mesmerizing children’s book of Theodore Seuss Geisel, more popularly known to us as Dr. Seuss, was published. This new film adaptation, “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax”,  is still refreshingly kiddy-friendly yet still has a very important message for the kids in all of us. I think what makes this work more relevant and acceptable is that “The Lorax” can still speak, on behalf of the trees, for us. We have to care a whole awful lot about nature. 

 

Here’s my The Lorax Movie Review:

 

The Lorax Movie Review: The Lorax will make you become a believer. And maybe a treehugger. 

 

 

What excited me about watching the film, and you’ll notice it throughout this The Lorax movie review, was that I was curious to see how Universal Studios treated the animation of the original drawings of Dr. Seuss. And a few minutes after the film started, I was mesmerized with the beautiful, colorful animation of the oh-so-fluffy truffula trees, the huggable brown bar-ba-loots, the hypnotizing humming-fish, and the galant swomee-swans. The animators did an amazing job! I thought that these adorable Seussian creatures might even look stunning on 3D, and I might watch the film again for that reason alone.

 

 

The Lorax Movie Review: Dr. Seuss would be so proud of how the animators made his creations alive.

 

The Lorax Movie Review: The modern animation of Dr. Seuss’ oh-so-fluffy truffula trees! Nice, eh? 

 

 

Also impressive is the way they fused modern animation with the contemporary-feel of Universal’s previous films such as “Despicable Me” and “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”–there are many references to these previous animated flicks in “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax”. I guess that’s the director’s way of telling us that the beautiful creations of Dr. Seuss are timeless as they seamlessly blend well with the plethora of current computer-generated characters of new films today.

 

This new film adaptation is about a twelve-year old Ted (Zac Efron) who, in the process of impressing a girl he likes, goes on a journey that would change the fate of the ultra-modern Thneedville. The girl, Audrey (Taylor Swift), dreams of seeing a real tree as the majority of the citizens of Thneedville haven’t seen a real one in decades. Good thing, Ted, desperately infatuated with her, is advised by his grandmother (Betty White) to see The Once-ler (Ed Helms) who might be capable of telling Ted how to find a genuine tree. Ted rides his cool high-tech monocycle, getting rid of the minions of Mr. O’Hare (Rob Riggle), and manages to get out of the colorful, plastic-filled, eccentric Thneedville and finds his way to a dark, smog-filled, tree-stump-filled outskirts miles away from his home. There he meets the strange Once-Ler who reveals to him the story of The Lorax (Danny DeVito), the spirit and mediator of the trees. And there the heart of the story unfolds.

 

The Lorax Movie Review: Top Row: Audrey, Ted, The Once-ler; Bottom Row: a Bar-ba-loot, The Lorax, Mr. O’Hare

 

 

I won’t spoil the story any further, but the synopsis I gave above, interestingly, is an expanded introduction to the main story in the original book. The writer Ken Daurio and directors Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda managed to flesh out more the motivation of Ted, who was originally unnamed, and the Once-ler, whose face was not shown at all in Dr. Seuss’ book. The creators of the film made good use of their artistic license to name the kid Ted (in reference to the real first name of Dr. Seuss) and to show how the Once-ler looked before and after his transformation in the story. These decisions I think gave the film more dimensions to explore. The addition of other sequences and even musical numbers might not be agreeable to many humorless critics and movie-goers, but I heard many kids laugh and gushed at these scenes in the theater where I watched. And to be honest, the film made me smile and wide-eyed all throughout its running time.

 

It’s also interesting to note that “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” was screened in the U.S. theaters on March 2, which was the 108th birthday of Dr. Seuss. I guess one of the reasons why I loved the film is that not only does the film address the issue of making nature an important concern to all of us, but it also shows us how artists like Dr. Seuss should not be forgotten and should still be celebrated and known for the next generations to come.

 

I’d like to thank the sponsors of the advanced screening of “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” for giving me and my two friends, Cheska and Alex, the chance to watch this joyful celebration of nature and Dr. Seuss in the theater the day before its official release in the cinemas here.

 

 The Lorax Movie Review: Alex and Cheska after the show. That was me in the middle. Kidding! Of course, I was the one taking the photo, silly. 🙂

 

 

But lucky for you, guys, “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” is now showing in your favorite cinemas in Manila TODAY. I’m pretty sure everyone, especially the young ones (and the young once), will find something to enjoy in the film. If you don’t believe me, then look at the current top placer of the box office in the US right now! The film has dominated the US charts for two weeks straight! 

 

When in Manila today or in the next few weeks, do not miss the chance to watch “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” and start caring a whole awful lot about the trees, nature, and the timeless genius of Dr. Seuss.

 

 

The Lorax Movie Review: Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Now Showing in Metro Manila Cinemas