What's up Internet? I have a like/dislike relationship with most animated films. I would usually use "love/hate" but there are very few films that I actually "hate." I like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, How to Train Your Dragon, both Kung Fu Panda films. I dislike The Lorax. Something just didn't click with me.
Its probably because The Lorax wasn't marketed as a musical. And there are several musical numbers throughout the film. I am by no means against musically-inclined films. As a matter of fact I enjoyed The Muppets quite a bit. Rather, I am against films (musical or not) that pander to children. Most of today's animated features are, for lack of a better term, "children's" films, yet contain content entertaining for adults. That doesn't mean double entendres or veiled dirty jokes. I simply mean a story or animation or anything that an older generation could enjoy. The Lorax, while exhibiting superb animation and generally a fun, engaging story, panders far too much to children. Particularly with aforementioned musical numbers and jokes that just weren't funny. Also the story's a bit preachy at times.
My main beef with The Lorax is said preachiness. I can't recall reading the story as a child, so I went into the film with a relatively blank slate. I understand the environmental message Dr. Seuss was trying to convey, but boy did they convey it. What message will children take away from the film? That being greedy is okay as long as you do something nice in the end? That you can cut down a billion trees as long as you plant just one? Maybe I'm over-analyzing The Lorax but that's just how I feel. Let me retract my earlier statement: my main beef with The Lorax is the horrifyingly bad guitar-laden musical number in the middle of the film. Atrocious.
The Lorax is a well-made children's film that aspires to be nothing more than that.
Bullet is out.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment