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davidahallnum5
Dec 20, 20229 min read

The Grinch 3D Blu-ray Review

Updated: Apr 8, 2023

The Grinch is a 2018 animated film based on the 1957 book by Dr Seuss "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." You probably need no introduction to this classic story. But for the two of your who hadn't read it, The Grinch is about the creature with the same name who lives on a mountain right over the town of Who-ville, where the Whos' joy and Christmas celebration gets on his nerves so much, he creates an elaborate plan to take everyone's toys, decorations, trees, food, presents, and everything else the Whos possess Christmas related before Christmas Day arrives. Will he follow through with his Grinchy plot or will he learn that Christmas is about something more?

The story of The Grinch has been adapted into film a couple of times before, and this is supposed to be the third. Preceding it was the 1966 cartoon TV special that everyone knows and loves, and the 2000 film that all the Millennials feel nostalgic for even though, in spite of Jim Carrey's performance, it's a pretty terrible movie. This 2018 Grinch movie by Illumination doesn't rise or fall to the extremes of either of those films. Instead, it falls somewhere in between and makes for a mostly unremarkable but still serviceable and harmless kids film.

I think it's clear by now that Dr. Seuss films don't deserve to be stretched out to hour and a half long ordeals. With the exception of Horton Hears a Who, the movie industry has time and time again shown that Dr. Seuss's short and simple stories are best left as the short and simple books as he originally written them. The TV specials keep the spirit of the books better because of their short lengths, and their 2D animation which best mimic the books. But with movies, in order to be feature length, plenty of extra stuff needs to be added in. Done right, this can actually improve the story, using the extra time to develop its themes and ideas better than the source material could do. But done wrong, it could diminish that said source material.

Now about The Grinch, the added extra stuff isn't by any means terrible, and it can even be a bit fun at times. But it still feels largely unnecessary and seems to just exist to pad the story out. Like many of people have pointed out, the Grinch in this story isn't even really all that mean. When he goes down into Who-ville, the only troubles he cause are a few minor inconveniences such as breaking a jar of food and tipping over a kid's snowman. He's also given the classic tragic backstory of being an orphan, left alone his whole life, leading to his hatred for everyone and everything. It's because of things like this we start to lose the spirit of the original short story, where the Grinch was just a bad apple all around. Cindy-Lou, who's mentions in the book were not more than two, is given an entire sub-plot about wanting to trap Santa and get him to help her mother. And in the Grinch's plan to steal Christmas, there's a sub-plot about him stealing a reindeer just for it to run away before the action starts. So as you can tell, this film is a lot more Illumination than Dr. Seuss, which means anyone looking for a faithful movie adaption of the story is just going to have to stick with the 1966 cartoon.

However, if you look at the movie on its on terms, it's not really that bad, just merely cliché. The visuals are still fun and creative, the extra sub-plots still manage to come together in the end, and even though the Grinch is not a big baddy like he was in the original story, his misunderstood loner approach did have a slightly charming way about it, and it surprisingly lead its way to some genuinely heartfelt moments near the end of the film. The Grinch's dog Max also had a few cute moments. And while I don't remember laughing-out-loud any, I did still get a few mild chuckles out of it. The dialogue wasn't particularly memorable, but it was serviceable overall. Cindy-Lou and the scenes involving her and all the other kids probably could've stood to have been left out, but it was still a bit cute and I imagine some younger kids might have a fun time with it.

I'm not saying I particularly love this rendition of The Grinch. But in all honesty, I can't really hate it too much because in the end, there's a sense of innocence that pervades about it, in that it tries to appeal to kids in a safe, fun, imaginative way without resorting to anything crude or overtly modernized. And while that doesn't mean most adults will probably enjoy it, they still might appreciate its sense of childlike, and maybe a bit old-fashioned, fun. I don't know, but there's something about sitting down and watching The Grinch with a group of young kids, watching them enjoy themselves, and then catching on and enjoying yourself too. The film doesn't really have much to really praise in terms of good storytelling. But because there's little to say in terms of things it does wrong, if you look at it as its own thing of course, The Grinch still works in its own way, even if its a bit safer than Dr. Seuss originally intended.

So, yeah. I think we'll be waiting a long while before we get a full-length feature film adaption of How The Grinch Stole Christmas that'll remain true to the book and remain just as good. Illumination's The Grinch clearly isn't that. But as a safe kids movie for children that hopefully won't bug their parents too much, I'd say it still delivers an overall pleasant experience. Is it an objectively good movie, not really. But I can envision that it'll still hit its target audience and maybe even be appreciated by a few adults for its innocence and surprising charm. I've heard many-a people call this version of The Grinch bland and drab. I hesitate to call it that because I get the feeling the people behind the film wanted to make something enjoyable for kids, and there is some genuine heart in it that people from all age groups can find good. But I also understand, this is still definitely a safe kids movie that we've seen many-a times before. If you're a parent looking for something to entertain you as much as the kids, you might be better off checking out Arthur Christmas, which I reviewed just a few days ago. But if your eyes are set on The Grinch, it's still not a bad bet. At the least, it's still 10,000 feet better than the 2000 Grinch film.


OVERALL FILM RATING: 3/5



Illumination has been known for how brilliantly they've used 3D, starting with Despicable Me back in 2010, and continuing that trend with films like Despicable Me 2 and The Secret Life of Pets. And The Grinch is no exception. From beginning to end, the 3D present here is the visual equivalent of a large cup of peppermint hot cocoa with a giant helping of whipped cream on top, with maybe a few marshmallows. There's much to praise the 3D for, so like a chimney on Christmas Eve, let's dive right into it.

Maybe it's because I'm just getting off of The Polar Express and Avatar: The Way of Water, but when I approached The Grinch, I was concerned that scenes with wide shots of huge and distant mountains, which take up a good chunks of the film's runtime, would go completely flat. Luckily, though, my worries were soon dismissed as unnecessary with the film's opening shot, which not only features some of the deepest mountain views I've seen in the longest time, but also a tracking shot that go from following snow creatures as they propel down the mountains approaching lots of trees and some bumpy terrain to following birds flying in the sky, lending their way to some incredible overhead views. And this sets the stage for most of the 3D throughout the movie, deep and used to its full extent.

Inside the town of Who-ville, things remain just as interesting, with surreal Seussical buildings taking up their own 3D space and the entire town as a whole stretching far into the background. There's one interesting shot in which it's nighttime and the lights start coming on, and we look down a long street with the wreaths hanging above the street all coming on starting with the ones furthest away. Not only that, but you can also see the space between the buildings, the people, and the decorations. Once again, the unusual shapes that these structures inhabit make the 3D all more interesting to watch. And the seemingly limitless amount of depth helps it all the more. The mountains and valleys, of course, also have surreal shapes and sizes that go far into the background, or come close to the camera in fun ways that you can't help but let your eyes get drawn into. And there's even a scene involving a giant Christmas tree featuring everything from top down views to wide shots to close ups inside the tree. But one of my favorite uses of 3D in the film is when the Grinch is standing out over a narrow ledge looking over the town. The ledge looks extremely high up and the town looks very far away. One small step and that could be the end of Mr. Grinch. Also, be on the lookout for a shot pairing this with the enormous flying Christmas tree.

Even indoors, every scene contains proper amounts of depth and dimension. Rooms look big, the space between objects and people are accurate and interesting to see, and the Seussical shapes benefit greatly from being in 3D. Nowhere is this more apparent than in The Grinch's cave, which features not just some of the biggest rooms in the whole movie, but also best utilizes 3D composition. There are a couple of scenes that involve a long table with one big candle in the middle. What the camera will do is have the candle sit right on the screen and let the character we're supposed to be focusing on be way in the back of the frame. It's a clever technique, but not the only one we get throughout the movie. The Grinch also plays an enormous organ from which we get far away views, top down views, and close ups, that all look amazing in 3D. Hallways in the mountains all carry surreal warped designs, and giant rooms, with windows looking out over the town no less, are so huge you wouldn't believe. But even the Whos' homes don't let up the impressive 3D, with everything from decorations to presents to big tables to windows looking over the town all taking the 3D to its full advantage.

And if you're looking for pop outs, don't you worry because The Grinch has plenty of fun ones to boot. Sure, you get The Grinch sticking out at us at moments of him in maniacal inspiration. But you also get Max the dog (who my sister tried at a couple of times to pet), surrounding Christmas decorations, an inflatable snowman, birds, snow, wind, a thrown book, Cindy Lou and her letter at one point, Christmas carolers, the Grinch himself when he's getting thrown around or trying to get away from everybody, a Christmas tree, the Christmas tree star, Whos, and even a reindeer licking the camera.

If I had anything to complain about with this transfer, it would probably be that there's one shot where the parallax goes into reverse for no apparent reason (when the Grinch pulls out a cookie in front of Max and his reindeer Fred). It's relatively brief, but it's still bizarre. There's also a warped shot of the giant Christmas tree from earlier that caused me some eye strain. It later made sense when it's revealed we're looking at a reflection from a telescope, but it still a couple of shots for the eye strain to go away.

The Grinch is another 3D winner from the folks at Illumination. Will it probably be remembered as much as something like Gravity or Hugo in terms of 3D usage? Probably not, because the film itself doesn't exactly need 3D to be fully appreciated. But that doesn't mean the extra dimension doesn't make it that much better. It gets so many things right and brings so many 3D delights that to pass it up would be a sure disappointment. If you're a die hard 3D fan looking for more 3D Christmas movies, The Grinch will certainly leave you almost as joyful as a schoolboy on a snow day.


3D RATING: GREAT


Other sources that review this movie's 3D:






FINAL THOUGHTS:


The Grinch doesn't have quite the making of a new Christmas classic. But as a serviceable holiday film for the kids, it works just fine. If you're not a kid or don't have kids, I can imagine you probably won't enjoy it. But for anyone looking for something that'll delight the young ones and probably pack a couple of appreciable things for the adults, The Grinch might just be the stocking stuffer you need. Now if you have a 3D display, then kids or not kids, I strongly recommend you pick this up. The Grinch 3D is a fun experience for everyone that showcases how to use the third dimension properly and create a delightful time with ample amounts of depth and plentiful pop outs that few 3D films dare to do anymore. While whether or not the movie itself will be a Christmas favorite of yours is up to you, there's no denying the 3D version is superb and well-worth your time and money.




DID YOU LIKE "THE GRINCH" (2018) IN 3D

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