We all know how the Grinch stole Christmas and that his heart was two sizes too small, but the story was retold once again in theaters this year. The Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch) lives in a cave on Mount Crumpet and lives out his days in solitude with his loyal dog, Max. The nearby town Whoville always celebrates Christmas, and the whole town is full of cheer and joy during the Christmas season, much to the Grinch’s dismay. This brings the Grinch to decide that the only way to bring back his peace is to steal the Whos’ Christmas, but one little Who named Cindy Lou made him change his mind.
This Christmas classic is about the meaning of Christmas and how we should treasure our family and friends because that is what the holiday is all about. This film captures this and still follows the general storyline from the past two versions of this movie, but this version was different in other ways.
This version of the film is the best visually out of the previous movies. The animation is beautiful, and the movie is bright, and the characters have bright eyes and big smiles, making them adorable. There are bright Christmas lights and bright snow everywhere, making the overall feeling of this movie bright and cheerful. There are a few pretty funny parts mixed into the movie that really make you laugh as well.
The Grinch is more relatable in this version; he travels to Whoville to get groceries and dreads the entire thing. He tries to avoid people who will strike up a conversation with him, and he likes his dog way more than he likes people. The Grinch is more rounded, and he is not as mean as the past versions have been. This Grinch’s actions are mean, but nothing he does would ruin someone’s mood for more than a day.
Since this Grinch is not a horrible monster, the point where the Grinch changes his mind and returns the items he stole from the Whos feels superficial. It feels like it does not have as much meaning and the change was not as big. There was not much changing that the Grinch had to do to become nice because he was not as mean as the other versions of the Grinch to begin with. This Grinch seems like his heart was only one size too small rather than two sizes too small.