WEBmikey: Horton Hears a Who! : 3 of 5

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Horton Hears a Who! : 3 of 5
3.21.2008 6:14 AM \| Link	You may already know that I'm a Jim Carrey anti-fan, but my love of animated features overcame my aversion to seeing this movie, so my pal Melinda and I went on opening weekend. If you ask me, after how terrible How the Grinch Stole Christmas was, Dr. Seuss should have a restraining order to keep Jim Carrey away from his stories, but thankfully Jim's much more toned down than usual this time around. Actually, Steve Carrell has a much bigger role as the Mayor of Whoville, and he does an excellent job! The animation is really nice, and extremely true to the Dr. Seuss designs, which was a joy to see (I thought the snooty kangaroo looked like she had just stepped out of the book). It made me wish for a series of films for all of the classic books, as long as they were done in this style! The screenplay follows the story pretty closely, keeping just a little narration and enough of the well-known lines (in rhyme), along with the inevitable plot fillers, and the addition of the Mayor's son JoJo, who provides the "misunderstood son saves the day" element to the story. In addition to the nice CG animation (definitely above average), there are a couple 2D segments that really excited me - especially an extended anime-style fantasy fight sequence that was completely hilarious! The most unusual moment comes at the end of the movie, when disaster is averted and everyone celebrates by suddenly singing REO Speedwagon's I Can't Fight This Feeling, which is one of the most off-the-wall choices I can imagine! I'm sure the filmmakers were just sitting around brainstorming and couldn't let go of the idea once it popped up! It was fun to see a Dr. Seuss story presented with respect, comedy, and warmth, and I'm happy that Blue Sky Studios is out there as another animation studio to watch for! Labels: movies


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