Despicable Me co-directors Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda have inflated Dr. Seuss’ story about conservation into one stuffed with young love, action sequences and cute bear-like critters that expands the story but adds nothing to it. In the plastic city of Thneedville, people happily drive bulging SUVs and inflate plastic foliage in their front yards. And bottled fresh air is sold by the greedy tycoon O’Hare (Rob Riggle). Then one day, 12-year-old Ted (Zac Efron) vows to locate a real tree to impress his cute neighbor Audrey (Taylor Swift). The reclusive Once-ler (Ed Helms) agrees to help him, but not before launching into a lengthy narrative that includes how all he cut down the forest to make ‘thneeds,’ ugly multipurpose garments that ‘everyone needs.’ The Lorax (Danny DeVito) enters, explaining that he is nature’s defender and no one needs thneeds.
DeVito is a natural as the gruff, grumpy Lorax and he’s the only good thing about this movie. Yes, there are cute parts from a trio of harmonizing fish to the spunky grandma voiced by Betty White. Nonetheless, efforts to jazz things up with Ted zooming around on his scooter, the O’Hare subplot and even the addition of Audrey (Taylor Swift doesn’t even sing) merely make “The Lorax” longer than it needs to be. Seuss’s timeless eco-fable has relevance enough. Older children will enjoy this, but not adults. There were a couple of screaming little ones in the theater who didn’t care about “The Lorax” either. 3/6/12
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