THE LORAX

The Lorax (2012)
Grade: C
Featuring the Voices of: Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White and Rob Riggle
PREMISE: A young man seeks to woo his pretty neighbor by presenting her with a rare Truffula Tree, but to find such a tree, he must visit the mysterious Once-ler to hear where the trees have gone.

Rated PG (contains some action and rude humor)

First, you have to admire the filmmakers' nerve,
To have Taylor Swift in a musical, yet not sing a verb.
And then they took a story that's enchanting but terse,
And to make it a movie created a whole universe!

The Lorax, The Lorax, by the great Dr. Seuss,
The latest kids' book forced to pay its own dues;
By being turned into a movie that isn't so great,
This is, of late, all great children's books' fate.

The Grinch, The Cat, and Horton Hears a Who,
Were none of them masterpieces; sadly, it's true.
Like them, The Lorax will almost surely make you laugh,
But it's got more than one rather obvious gaff.

First there's Rob Riggle as a cheap, sleazy villain,
Who, like several songs, is mostly a fill-in.
Then there's a long and redundant, predictable chase,
That, when over, will leave in your mind not a trace.

Story: 

Ed Helms, as the Once-ler, is frighteningly good,
As a guy with ambition who's misunderstood.
When he cuts down the Truffula trees, nature cries,
and then the little Lorax (Danny DeVito) descends from the skies.
The Lorax tells him what he's doing is wrong,
That the pretty environment will only last for so long.
But so obsessed is the Once-ler with making and selling his thneed,
He forgets about the pretty things in the world we all need.

Eventually greed gets the better of him,
Leaving him forgotten, alone, a penniless shut-in.
His spirit is revived when a boy (Zac Efron) asks about trees--
There's a really pretty girl (Swift) he's eager to please.
The Once-ler, it turns out, does have one Truffula seed,
But trees grow contrary to the main villain's greed.
He makes money, you see, by making people pay for air,
Thus filling the coffers of his company, O'Hare.
He's a gazillionaire, yes, and if there's one thing he won't see,
It's trees alive again, since they make air for free.

Ultimately this new story isn't the best,
It's pulled on and dragged out 'till it's nearly a mess.
Some of the voices are good, and the animation bright,
But The Lorax won't make true Seuss fans sleep easier at night.
Maybe it's best if we leave kids' books alone;
Why ruin people's favorites when they're all grown?
The Lorax is okay (honestly, I'd say rather bland),
But it'll work for most people; it'll meet their demand.
The bottom line, here, maybe this is all this review took:
I'd say you're better off reading the book.

The Lorax (2012)
Directed by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda
Written for the screen by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul; based on the book "The Lorax" by Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
Rated PG
Length: 86 minutes