"Horton Hears a Who!" is an extremely pleasant adaptation of a classic Dr. Seuss book. Any time you adapt something as short as a Dr. Seuss book into a feature length film, you end up having to add lots of stuff to fill time. This movie takes an interesting approach to the new material. There is no attempt to have the new dialogue or action sound like Dr. Seuss. As a result, it is dead obvious when the movie is quoting directly from the original text. I though this worked well, though, because I'm not sure if an adult could take 88 minutes of dialogue that was all trying to sound like Dr. Seuss. With Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell voicing the main characters, I was also a bit worried that the additional material would be a little too out of control and zany. Instead, the movie does a nice job of giving them enough room to unleash their comic energies, without going over the top. I also thought the visuals were quite impressive. One scene where Horton searches through a field of clover was surprisingly stunning. If you're not into animated films, I wouldn't recommend "Horton Hears a Who!" For every one else, though, I think you'll find the movie a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes.
Final Grade: B
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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Right on, Jim! I would also add that the movie seemed like a hit with all the kiddos in our theater, who varied in age from our own 2-1/2-year-old to a gaggle of preteens. (Granted, our little one spent more time munching snacks and climbing on and off her booster chair than actually watching the movie, but she kept relatively quiet and had a pretty good time.) We thought our movie-obsessed 4-1/2-year-old would like it, but since his tastes already run to superheroes and fast cars we weren't confident. Not only did he end up enjoying it, he made it through the whole thing without a potty break -- a milestone for any parent. :) So that's two thumbs up from us, plus two smaller ones from the tots!
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