The Lorax

"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not"~Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss's works are classic to many people, from books like Green Eggs and Ham to The Cat in the Hat. These books have a charm to them that no other person can replicate, and also makes them an amusing read. The rhyme scheme and unique art make is all that more fun to read. Most of these works are very hard to adapt properly. When I heard the studio who made Despicable Me was going to adapt Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, I could not help but to get excited, due the fact I absolutely loved Despicable Me. So, how does it fair off in my mind?

The plot is a simple one, I will admit. It follows the story of a young boy named Ted, who lives in a town where there is no nature; everything is synthetic and artificial. His romantic interest, Audrey, starts to tell him how she wants to see a real tree, and inspired to try and gain her love, he goes on a quest to get a tree.

To be quite honest, I actually hated this movie. The plot was so ridiculous that it made me cry. Yes, I do understand that they have never seen real trees, and this girl wants to see one, but the consequences of him trying to get the tree were quite ridiculous. Also, the one person who can tell him how to get a tree, the Once-ler, makes him jump through hoops in order to get the tree. I guess they needed to fill up about another forty-five minutes discussing why the trees were gone.

The music in this movie actually comes in two parts. On one hand, I could not stand the musical numbers about how great having fake stuff is, to how bad can cutting down all the trees be. I feel like they copied The Muppets in this style, and they imitated it badly. However, the background music was well done, fitting the mood for each scene, and some of it admittedly had me tapping my foot in rhythm to it. However, the background music does not make a movie, but the musical numbers can kill it in the first five minutes.

The animation was well done in the sceneries aspect. They were well done, vibrant, and fit the upbeat mood of the movie very well.   The character designs were well done, and they also blended well with the back ground. However, I did go see this in 3D (not IMAX), and I feel like although I could tell the levels of depth, the 3D really did not work for me. It seemed to be lacking, but since it is not IMAX, I will give it some lee-way.

Character wise, this movie was a let down. The characters were cookie cutter characters in my mind, and they were easily forgotten. Ted was this kid who would do anything for the girl he loves, which is not that original. Also, his dialogue is not that good either, between (failed) pick up likes and screaming, he doesn't contribute much. Then we have Audrey, the idealistic girl who wants the world to be perfect, and really doesn't contribute to her cause. We have the bad guy, Mr. O'Hare, the guy who sells people fresh air because the real air quality is that bad, but as always, he is only out for money. The Once-ler and the Lorax had to be the most interesting, and even then, they are kind of flat.

The voice acting in this movie was alright. I do not like Zac Efron as Ted, because he turns Ted into this flat, high school boy, who only knows how to do crappy pick up lines, and they are poorly executed at best. Taylor Swift did an alright job at Audrey, but still, she felt like she was awkward, and it just felt wrong to be honest. The rest of the cast did well, and the Lorax's voice did fit him, and they did well with execution. Now, if we could work on the two main characters....

The message that the movie incorporated in it was a common message that is popping up over and over again in movies: Protect the environment. While yes, I do agree that we need to take care of it, I think the movie industry is going overboard with this message. This movie is perfect example, because they exploited it in the wrong way. The Once-ler destroyed the trees for a stupid, useless scarf-thing. I think if they are going to propaganda saving the environment and not ruin it because of human actions, I think they could have done it a bit better. Since this is a kids movie, I guess they just wanted to make sure kids understood it, and could act on not destroying the trees, however, they must be assuming their audience is a bunch of dimwits.

Overall, unless you were a little kid, I would not recommend this movie to anyone but little kids, or unless you were super keen on saving the environment, and even then, it's a terrible movie.

The Adventures of Tintin

We have all wanted to go on a grand a grand adventure in our lives, whether it be to the jungle, or perhaps a trip on the high seas. Sometimes, we take these trips willingly, with lots and lots of planning, or we take them as due to circumstances. Tintin, a boy and grad adventurer embarks on a journey, a journey of epic proportions.

Tintin is a reporter in Great Britain, and his dog Snowy, embark on a grand adventure after Tintin buys a model boat of the Unicorn, a legendary ship that sunk mysteriously. After he buys it, people are drawn to the ship, offering him double what he paid for originally or naming his own price. He refuses offer takes home, and while Snowy was chasing a stray cat, the ship topples over, breaking the middle mast. After he and Snowy return from another errand, the ship goes missing. Snowy points out a silver tube that had fallen behind the dresser when the ship broke, and in the tube was a piece of paper. A little while later, he goes to see the old abandoned manor, where he sees the ship that had broken, though this ship seemed to be in one piece. It is deduced that the Captain Francis Haddock, the original captain of the ship made three copies of the ship. In his quest to find the treasure rumored to be with the ship, he recruits the help of Captain Francis Haddock's descendant, Captain Haddock,in order to solve the mystery behind the ships and to find the treasure!

The first thing I must say about this movie is that you must go see it in Imax 3D. I had the pleasure of doing so, and the effects in the movie were amazing. At some points, I felt as though I was there, even though it was an animated movie. the dust particles moving around in front of me, the waves almost being able to reach me, and the sand could have been played in if i took a few steps towards the screen, were all thrills of the movie. The layer sof the scenes was also very well done, like Tintin was distinct from the surroundings, and everything was layered properly. Although usually I do not watch 3D, this movie was well worth it to go see it in 3D.

The story of Tintin in my mind could be divided into two parts: The main course which was Tintin and Haddock's adventure for the ships, but also about the local pickpocket. The main story was interesting, due to the fact that they keep going after these clues to the treasure. It had wit, action,and even a few jokes and sayings, such as "It only took a day in the Sahara to make you sober," or "I'm not optimist, I'm a realist," made me laugh and realize that the latter was an application to some of my views in life. The second, and perhaps sort of side story, was the two policemen, Thomson and Thompson, trying to catch a local pickpocket, who had been stealing everyone's wallets. The two police men are actually the source of comic relief in the movie when Captain Haddock's drinking problem fails.

The voice acting was superb in the movie. Captain Haddock's voice fit his character very well, as well as Tintin's. Their adversary, Sakharine, was voiced by the one and only James Bond,Daniel Craig, though I had a hard time recognizing the voice at first. But for the other characters, the voice acting was also superb.

As for the art of the movie, sometimes I started to question if was animated or not. The eyes for the characters were very well detailed, and the people looked natural, save for the noses. Those noses were unnatural, and kind of hideous if you ask me. But the sceneries and the effects in the animation was superb, especially in 3D as I have said before.

The movie was an excellent watch, and well worth the money to see in Imax 3D. If you can and are able to watch 3D, I recommend it highly, and it is a good family film.