The Lorax Movie Review
I'll admit I loved the movie, the colors are vibrant, and at the heart is the classic Dr. Seuss message, but like Thneedville itself, it's a giant overindulgance. But isn't that the point here?
The tale is one of the past and the future. Ted lives in Thneedville, which is as fake a town as one can get. Seriously, everything is plastic, the trees are fake, and every night is jello for dinner. Don't celebrate the jello, I love jello probably more than most people but it reminds me of the jelly sardines from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, yuck! Oh, and since there is no life giving vegetation even the air gets trucked in. But what Ted wants more than anything else in the world is to find a Truffula tree. And like most young bo, he's willing to go to extremes to find one for the love of a girl, who has no clue he has a crush on her. This quest leads Ted to travel outside of the city, which is a huge no no, and to the door of the Once-ler.
Outside the bright and shiny walls of Thneedville is all gloom and doom. Its all desolate, and nothing lives there, except the Once-ler, but it wasn't always like that. No, it was once filled with Truffula trees, Barbaloots, and Humming-Fish. These guys are definitely one of the highlights of the movie, and not just because the big Barbaloot distinctly reminds me of a close friend, seriously throw marshmallows his way and you'll see the same facial expression. They're definitely scene stealers, like the minions of Despicable Me, which coincidentally are the guys behind this flick. I don't hate them for their likability though, they bring plenty of laughs.
And so the Once-ler tells his story, of how he destroyed the world. It started with a need, which turned into a Thneed, and eventually brought the Lorax, who speaks for the trees. But the Oncer-ler lost sight of everything including his promise to the Lorax, and everything that once was beautiful was tarnished, ruined. The Lorax sends the animals away from the wasteland and he too leaves, but leaves behind a single word cut in stone "Unless."
The Once-ler gives Ted the last Trufella seed, and it's all left up to him to right all the wrongs. Change is hard, it sucks. And at the heart of the story that is still true, and the message if anyone missed it is, is quoted "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." It's got a totally Wall-E vibe with everyone scrambling at the end, but it doesn't take anything away from the moment.
The movie opens on Dr. Seuss's birthday, which I think is a fitting tribute, on March 2, 2012. If you're young, or just young at heart, put aside all you're expectations, and just enjoy the movie. It's fun and has a fantastic message.
So who's planting a tree with me?
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