“What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.”
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Grinch is hatching a plan to steal Christmas in this latest outing featuring the mean, green miser. But, the magical thing about Christmas... it’s about so much more than just STUFFing!
The third screen adaptation of the 1957 Dr Seuss story, produced by Illumination, sees the animated Grinch holed up in his cave away from the rest of Whoville with only his dog, Max for company. A stalwart antagonist when it comes to anything Christmas, the Grinch can barely utter the word without having a negative physical reaction. Meanwhile the people of Whoville are their typically, happy selves excited for a Christmas that is set to be three times bigger than ever.
We see a town that does community better than anyone, paying it forward at every opportunity, not least at this festive time of year. However, destined for a life of loneliness, from his orphaned upbringing, the Grinch has come to associate Christmas as the pinnacle of his solitary and miserable existence. So, he plots to steal Christmas in an effort to end his own torment, and of course, because making others unhappy makes us feel so much better about our own wretchedness.
At face value, we all love to hate the Grinch, laughing when his Machiavellian ideas literally come back to punch him in the face. But at its core, isn’t this the tale of someone literally crying out for attention, longing to feel included for once in his life?
A series of backfired attempts to spoil the town’s Christmas preparations inadvertently places the Grinch at the very centre of them and in fact illustrates that the people of Whoville are oblivious to his disdain for them. However, he pushes on with his plan, convinced that shedding the town of its holiday trimmings, from tinsel and tree to the presents underneath it, will remove the spirit of Christmas once and for all. That is until he meets one little Who girl with a big plan of her own and it occurs to the Grinch that maybe there’s more to Christmas than assaults his eye.
Can the kindness and altruism of one tiny girl, change the Grinch’s heart, even though it’s two sizes too small?
Narrated by Pharrell Williams and starring other such famous voices as Rashida Jones, Angela Lansbury and Kenan Thompson (of 90s series Kenan and Kel) and of course Benedict Cumberbatch in the leading role, The Grinch is the perfect festive family movie. It will make you laugh, it may make you cry and ultimately it will remind you to look beyond the trimmings and see what’s really important, at Christmas and all year round.
The Grinch is in cinemas from 29 November.
Look out for the cute Minions short before the movie. A great precursor to the main event!
The Grinch
Rated G
Duration: 1 hour 26 mins