Der Lorax

The Lorax is a very fun movie that I'd recommend taking your kids to any time.

It's so fun! The characters are very funny for kids and adults too especially the little fish! The fish are so funny they act like a kind of a chorus or something in the story.

The Lorax himself is a great character, very nice and likable with a great voice.

Worth seeing for sure.

Movies are getting more and more expensive but this movie is fun and has a good message.

...in this case, changes from the book/original TV short. A lot of people have been lamenting the "frame story" this movie adds in, as well as the idea of making the Once-ler a human character. As far as the frame goes, it's done pretty well. It's a bit flat but perfectly enjoyable for younger kids. Making the Once-ler human, though? BRILLIANT. Hear me out. The original Once-ler was a faceless force of destruction, a shadowy embodiment of greed. This Once-ler is just a stupid kid with a dream, a guy who wants to change the world. He's not evil, but he lets his success get to his head, and that brings about his own downfall and the destruction of the forest. That's FANTASTIC, and here's why: that's how the world really is! Companies don't sit around all day cackling about how much smog they're pumping into the atmosphere; it's a process, and something that happened gradually. Obliviousness is just as dangerous as maliciousness, and that's a really powerful lesson. This can happen to YOU if you're not careful; anybody can hurt the planet if they don't pay attention. That's a rare lesson, and one I'm really pleased to see in this movie.

So, is it silly and stupid sometimes? Yes, of course. But it's colorful and exuberant, and in a lot of ways I think it really captured the "Seuss-ness" that similar remakes have missed. There's nothing offensive about it (besides the miserable marketing) and my little brother enjoyed it as a fun movie. I enjoyed it for giving us a deeper--and in my opinion, very powerful--character type: the accidental villain, the everydude who makes a horrible mistake that the environment suffers for. So take that as you will...but overall, I found myself liking this a lot more than I expected. Definitely worth a watch.

As far as the feature Dr Seuss adaptations go, the best by quite some distance was the animated Horton Hears a Who. The Grinch I also liked, even though it doesn't hold a candle to the 1966 animated version, though I can definitely see why people may dislike it. But I detested Cat in the Hat, a failure both as an adaptation and on its own terms. In all honesty I was very nervous about seeing The Lorax, I'd see anything to do with Dr Seuss but when I saw people likening it to propaganda and the more positive reviews getting overly defensive and condescending and making all kinds of annoying excuses it did lower my expectations. After seeing it, I don't think it was as bad as all that, calling it propaganda I think is unfair, but I don't think it is perfect either. It does pale in comparison to the original story and to the 1972 cartoon, but on its own merits, on which I do think generally a movie should be judged, I found it a perfectly decent movie. Perfect? No, the "hippy grandma" character did get on my nerves and the main subplot with Ted could have been better developed. My biggest reservation was that while the story did have its heart and charm it was rather stretched which loses the initial simplicity of the story. However, the animation is wonderful, very bright and whimsical as it should be with some pleasingly psychedelic moments also. The songs are suitably catchy with some deliciously playful lyrics. The writing is much better than I expected, I was expecting the toilet humour and fart jokes of Cat in the Hat but actually the humour is cheerful and amusing. The message is heartfelt and despite what you'd expect reading the plot summary I don't think it talked down to the audience that much. The ending is heartwarming and a nice change from the one of the more downbeat yet hopeful one of the 1972 cartoon. The characters on the whole are likable and personable, the best being the Lorax himself, and the animals are very cute. The voice acting is also fine, Danny DeVito does cranky brilliantly, and Ed Helms and Betty White are also amusing. Zac Efron and Taylor Swift may raise some eyebrows and I was initially perplexed at their casting, but actually both do spirited jobs. So all in all, while I can understand the disappointment of those who didn't like it as much I did enjoy The Lorax despite fears that I wouldn't. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I always remember this film as "The Last Tree" regardless of its real title. Maybe because it's about the last tree, so, I considered the title as "The Last Tree".

This film is one of those films which have important message. Tree is one of the most important things to have in this world. Trees make oxygen and prevent the environment from getting hotter. Chopping trees can make you money of course, but at the same time, it makes the environment worse than before. Nowadays, in some countries, the weather is so hot, hotter than past 2 or 3 years. Mostly, it's because there aren't more trees. People are chopping them to sell. Some people make things and sell them like in the film. Some people are just selling the whole thing. Trees becomes less and hence, making the weather hotter and hotter. So, if we want to stop this condition, we have to protect the trees and plant more trees. Otherwise, it will become exactly shown in this animation.

Although this film has the greatest and most important message, it also have the biggest flaw. The trees in this film look weird. The trees from the real world are not like them. In the other words, the trees from the animation aren't realistic. It makes the viewers feel strange.

Overall is that this film is also a great film. It's one of those films you can't miss. Everyone must watch this one at least one time and learn a lifetime lesson.

All reviewers of this movie seem to either love it or hate it, and it's easy to see why.

As has been pointed out to death, the "modernized" Hollywood story added in of a celebrity-voiced kid trying to win a girl and overcome a two- dimensional villain in the process is thoroughly uninteresting, and will make older moviegoers angry at the lack of effort made in expanding the story.

The Once-ler's tale, on the other hand, is the story carried over from the book, one of unchecked ambition and carelessness. The Once-ler is morally gray and this is done very well, as he is likable, yet you're never sure- is he a villain? A misguided hero? Somewhere in between? Sure, it's padded out with cutesy animals, but knowing what becomes of them in the end makes it considerably less innocent. This story is where Seuss's message is, and it still makes it through.

The score by John Powell is epic and the animation and designs are gorgeous, which add great atmosphere in the darker parts of the movie. The environmental message is very un-subtle, and people who dislike that in other movies will dislike it here.

One need only listen to the cut song "Biggering" to see how powerful this story could have gotten. And they just didn't have the guts. But beauty does manage to seep through in places, and this is one movie that I'd highly recommend seeing only parts of.