The Lorax Review

Directed by Chris Renaud, Kyle Balda and starring the voices of Zac Efron, Danny Devito and Ed Helms. The Lorax follows the story of a 12 year old boy who's searching for the one thing that will win him the affection of the girl of his dreams. To do this he must discover the story of the Lorax.

 Ever since the worldwide disembowelment of Seuss' classic The Cat In The Hat back in 2003, many thought it was the end for any future Seuss adaptation's. The total lack of care and consideration for one of the worlds best children's books left a lot of frustrated customers and critics, including the wife of the late writer Audrey Geisel who stated that there were to be no more live-action adaptations of her husbands books. However CGI adaptations were still a possibility, which 5 years later sparked the acclaimed adaptation of 'Horton Hears A Who', and now 'The Lorax'.

 The Lorax is quite different to any previous Seuss adaptations carrying a very prominent and thoughtful message inside a world full of all too relate able occurrences. Which is brilliant, there's nothing better than a children's film that, as-well as displaying an entertaining story also provides an important moral message. However there is a massive difference between a simple message and complete message overload! Audiences go to the cinema to be entertained, not feel like their back in primary school in-front of a 'happy-go-lucky' teacher that tries to make learning about the environment fun, when it's just boring and completely nonsensical! That is the complete personification of The Lorax, the whole film just feels like an 86 minute 'powerpoint' lecturing the audience on how to make the world a better place, and the outcome is quite how you would expect. Forgettable. Not only is there this overpowering message, but this message is forced down your throat till it just becomes unbearable.

 It doesn't help the film that the only thing that's carrying the message across is a totally contrived and predictable story which destroys the original kids novel. It follows the  formulaic basis of a children's film, never straying from the path, which inevitably brings about generic actions and an unrealistic end. I didn't really care for any of the characters due to a complete lack of development, we never really know why Ted, the protagonist, cares so much as to risk his life just to hear a story. Throughout the story, we are also 'treated' to a collection of small musical numbers, which although may be written fairly well, are totally unnecessary, and add nothing to the story or atmosphere. They were actually very forgettable, mainly because of the forced main message we were left with at the end, shrouding the film, making any occurrences previous to the finale seem irrelevant. The humor within this film is what to be expected of a generic children's film. Packed full with granny, fart and bottom jokes, which ceased to be funny after a good 5 minutes.

 On the other hand however, I am clearly not the target audience and despite it's plethora of faults, I still believe it could be enjoyable for the target demographic. One thing prominent throughout the whole range of Seuss books and films for that matter is it's compelling sense of imagination and fun. As the old legend of the Lorax is revealed we are taken to a fantasy world, where we experience a colourful land full of child-friendly cute, singing animals. Which no matter what your age, is sure to make you go 'awww'! Even the gloomy, realistic world of 'Thneed-Ville' is dominated by towering buildings, surrounded by perplexing  cars, trees and other visually beautiful scenery.

 Overall The Lorax was quite disappointing for someone outside the target audience, if your inside that demographic however you could find this to be a fun time. After all which child cares about a contrived and incoherent story?

40%- The most picturesque yet contrived science lesson I've had in years!

Calum Russell