Rating: C+
I was a bit disappointed by The
Lorax. The trailer for it made it
appear to be a fun movie, a bit of comedy, a bit of romance, a bit of suspense,
and the occasional musical number. While
technically it did follow through with this, it did so in a manner that left me
wanting. The story overall was good in
theory, but somewhat poorly executed. In
many ways the walled city of Thneed-Ville appears to be a utopian society;
everyone’s pretty happy and gainfully employed, and everything is very, very
clean – largely due to the complete removal of nature. Rather than have real trees, dirt, and
everything that comes with that the world is covered in cement, Astroturf, and
blow up trees, and oxygen comes in bottles.
Everyone is completely satisfied with this state of affairs – everyone,
that is except Audrey (Swift), who dreams to see a real tree. Enter protagonist and love interest Ted
Wiggins (Efron), who sets out to find a tree for her, taking him beyond the
walls of Thneed-Ville to the home of the Once-ler, who tells him the tale of
the Lorax and the trees. This brings him
attention to corporate giant Aloysius O’Hare (Riggle), who has made his fortune
from selling air and consequently does not want anyone to bring back the trees.
If you think that this sounds like an environmentalist,
anti-corporation film you’d be right, and in that manner it does justice to the
book that it’s based on. I have no
problem with the message in general, and in general it’s handled well although
a bit heavy handed at times. Some of it
made me roll my eyes, particularly in regards to the use of bottled air,
especially as there’s a lack of continuity there – the Thneed-Villians have to
buy air for their home, but have no problem breathing outside, it’s just when
they leave the city that this becomes an issue.
There is a difference between the ending of the book and the film; in
the book, it’s rather ominous and fore boarding. There is a sense of hope, but just a
sense. In the film, however, things are
a lot happier in the end and there is a resolution. Given the nature of the issue, however, I was
a bit disappointed that there was a resolution; it’s an ongoing issue, and I
disliked the way that it was resolved with a nice little song and dance. The point of the book is that there is more
to the issue of saving the environment than just the trees, but the trees
provide a start. The film implies more
that if you save the trees then you save the world, and everything is hunky
dory afterwards.
Other problems… I wasn’t amazed by the voice acting. It really seemed a bit half assed, which was
disappointing given some of the actors.
I don’t really expect much from Taylor Swift or Zac Efron when it comes
to acting, but I do have expectations with other cast members, especially Betty
White. Danny DeVito was great, but I
think his role was somewhat sidelined, which is odd given as he played the
title character. I was especially
disappointed by the Once-ler. In the
book he’s a rather foreboding character, hidden except for his green arms. It’s easy to believe that he’s this formerly
malevolent character, who has seen the err of his ways and holds the last hope
for humanity. In the film, he’s really
just a pathetic character who failed to listen to the Lorax, who didn’t have
any real power to begin with, then faded into legend as the world was left to
deal with the consequences of his actions.
It was a disappointment, as was the film overall.
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