Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Directed by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda, The Lorax is bright and colorful, the animation is top-notch and the voice casting – from Zach Efron and Taylor Swift as the youngsters discovering first love to the gruff Danny DeVito as the voice of the Lorax – couldn’t be better. There are plenty of funny moments, from the witty dialog and snappy banter to some really terrific sight gags. So what’s wrong with The Lorax? First, there’s the music. Not only is there too much of it, but it’s all so similar that by the end if it you feel like you’ve been listening to one long (really long) song. Another problem comes from the way the script tries to force passages of the original work into the dialog. Sure, a huge part of the pleasure of reading Dr. Seuss (at any age) is the poetry of Theodor Geisel, but it doesn’t do it justice to just cram in the occasional line here and there. The big problem with The Lorax, though, is that it’s just too preachy. Granted, the message it is trying to send about the need for man to protect the environment is important, but the film delivers it with the subtlety of an ax.