(MERRY) MOVIE MONDAY: THE GRINCH (2018)

I know that the Christmas season is technically just beginning, but I have already watched a ton of Christmas-themed movies. I don't know what to say, I just feel holly jolly!

I wasn't too excited to see this animated film because the first animated one and the one with Jim Carrey are among my favorites. But my Nana, who rarely leaves the house, wanted to go and see it, so I agreed to tag along! I was pleasantly surprised. For today's rating system, I will be using Grinch heads!

​Without further ado, let's talk about the plot.

THE PLOT

The more modern version of the Grinch, narrated by Pharrell Williams, features Donna Who (played by Rashida Jones), a hard-working single mother raising the familiar Cindy-Lou Who, an adventurous and tomboy-ish Who, and her two younger brothers.

The storyline also follows the Grinch and his dog Max who must venture into town a few days before Christmas because they ran out of food. When they get there, the Grinch begins to remember his childhood in the Whoville orphanage. This combined with a ton of other Christmas-y things happening throughout the film sparks the Grinch's plan to steal Christmas from the Whos. Meanwhile, Cindy-Lou Who plots with her friends to trap Santa Claus to tell him what she wants for Christmas.

This older film touches on some new themes, but it mostly follows the age-old storyline of helping the Grinch's heart grow two sizes bigger.

ACTING | 5/5

I thought that the cast choices were bold and included Benedict Cumberbatch as The Grinch, Kenan Thompson, Angela Lansbury, and Cameron Seely, who you would most likely know from the 2017 hit "The Greatest Showman." The inflections of the actors' voices were perfect and aligned with the storyline well. I feel like it is really hard to mess up an animated movie, though!

THE STORYLINE | 4/5

I actually really loved the storyline, but some people may be disappointed that this movie took a turn away from the original storyline. But, I think it was really interesting. Cindy-Lou's mom seems to be a nurse, which was cool because you don't typically think about a nurse in Whoville. In addition, I loved that the Grinch was actually really nice to Max. In other films, he kind of uses Max and I like that, in this film, they took time to make sure that Max was considered a friend rather than a piece of property. I thought that the twist was unique, so I'm giving it a 4/5.

THE MEANING | 4.5/5

As I said, this movie does take a step away from what is usually the greater meaning from the Grinch movies, but it does all come back to Cindy-Lou Who changing the heart of the Grinch without even realizing it. I thought that the meaning behind it was nice but thought is was kind of strange that they didn't add any extra meaning since they changed so many other aspects.

SPECIAL EFFECTS/ANIMATION | 5/5

This movie was a project produced by Illumination, which brought us all of the Despicable Me and Minion movies. I think they did a great job with the animation and with really nailing the emotions and body language aspect!

CONCLUSION

Overall, I would say that you should just go and see it! I loved the movie and I think that children would really like it. I hope that you can take some time to go see it on the big screen before it is out of the theatre!