Plot: As you already know, The Grinch hates the whole Christmas season. So Little Cindy Lou, who believes everyone in Whoville is missing the point of the holiday, wants to find out why. She finds out through a few interviews with Whos who knew The Grinch growing up, that his hate for Christmas mainly comes a bad memory of Christmas from back when he was a kid. So Cindy Lou arranges for The Grinch to be the main participant of the Whobilation in order to try to get him into the Chirstmas spirit. Things go sour for The Grinch at the Whobilation, and so decides to find a way to stop Christmas from coming altogether.
Now I'm going to start by basically confirming that this film is nowhere near as good as the animated short. But at the same time, there is a part of me, even though I'm grown up and know better, that kind of respects this film for how it was giving us a longer and more detailed version of the story. I like the idea that we have more of a background story of The Grinch, even to the point where he did once have people who cared for him such as the old women who raised him and the girl Martha who has this lifelong crush on him. There was no doubt that it wouldn't be as good as the first film, but seeing it for the first time as a kid, I was all for it, and even now that I'm grown up, I still enjoy it...even if the flaws of the film are much more noticeable. I also liked that Cindy Lou has a bigger part in the story, to the point where she and The Grinch form some sort of relationship even before he tries to steal Christmas. With that said, this film definitely has some flaws. Some of them are self explanatory such as Jim Carry's performance as The Grinch. Now I will grant that I can see why people will find him amusing with all his over-the-top acting, some well delivered facial expressions, and admittingly, a couple of jokes here and there that I did chuckle a little at. But there were a few moments where he gets a little too carried away and delivers some of the jokes that are not only not funny, but pretty inappropriate for kids. And watching this film again, there are some of the well intended additions that weren't delivered all that well. Like Cindy Lou singing the song Where Are You Christmas, which the Faith Hill version is actually what got me interested in watching it again. The song has a nice, emotional concept to it, but when the girl that plays Cindy Lou sings it, it's a little distracting. But at the same time you simply have to give it a pass anyway because deep down, she really is trying her best considering her age and everything, and you can't really fault her for that. Plus, not even that is as much of an issue as the character of Martha as a whole. Now again, I really like the idea of a love interest for The Grinch, and in some respects, they deliver it pretty well... but watching it again, I noticed that Martha, especially as an adult, was...weird to say the least. I mean I like her as a kid where it's clear that she really cares for The Grinch, but when she's an adult... it was kind of messed up with how flirtatious she was over him. Like when Cindy Lou interviews her, she just doesn't hide at all how infatuated she was with him. Other Whos state how horrifying it was when The Grinch snaps when he was a kid during Christmas, and yet she comments about his muscles in the most seductive tone. Ultimately, it seems like both the young and old versions of Martha are completely different characters: one who really deeply cares for him and his truly hurt about what happened to him, and the one who still does, but mostly seems really eager to get to bed with him. And there where some aspects of the film that even as a kid I had problems with. One was the costume for The Grinch, which on one hand is very well done, and Jim Carry uses it very well...but at the same time, the 10-year-old me sometimes felt uncomfortable because there where moments when I couldn't tell if it was a costume, or a really naked person who is almost showing his junk. Also, the part where The Grinch goes on a rampage during the Whobilation was and overkill. Like it was alright at first (again, this is a kid watching the film not realizing some of the adult jokes), but then there's some big explosion that I thought just really killed the mood of where I thought the scene was going.
And that's my review for The Grinch. If you enjoy Jim Carry and really like getting the same story but with a few additions to it, I can understand why. But aside from that, it has too many adult jokes, has a weird character to be The Grinch's love interest, and several other aspects of the film that make it very easily inferior to the animated short. If you're curious about what this film adds, I think the additions to the story are worth seeing and admire to some extent, but otherwise, it's not worth it.
Rating: 45%
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