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DR. SEUSS' THE LORAXMovie Reviews
3D animated family fantasy about a forest creature that shares the enduring power of hope with a love-struck boy. Cast:Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed HelmsDirector:Chris Renaud, Cinco PaulRelease Date:March 2, 2012DVD Release:August 7, 2012From:UniversalRating:PGLength:1 hr. 34 min.
AUGUST 7, 2012
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, Good (Not Great) Reviews, Mixed
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax played to good not great reviews. Reviews were mixed. • Chris Vognar wrote in the Miami Herald, "...a little overstuffed with story. But the design is witty and imaginative, and the small grace notes are enough to keep an open-minded adult giggling." • And Stephen Whitty wrote in the New Jersey Star-Ledger, "It's not that it's a dreadful cartoon. It just feels like every other middling cartoon." More Reviews Below...
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Positive Reviews (41 Reviews, reviews below)
Alynda Wheat, People: VERY GOOD(cg) "...tells it with Seussian visual panache, jaunty songs and humor... one of the Doc's more political stories... you may want to talk to kids about the issues it raises."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 175 words, 03/01/12
Richard Corliss, Time: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the movie barely rises above the generic. It lacks the spark and poignancy of the 2008 'Horton Hears a Who!' But kids should have a ball occupying the new 'Lorax.' "(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 841 words, 03/02/12
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "It's got a winningly whimsical Seussian spirit, though it could have used a pinch of his doggerel-driven anarchy. (Seuss' brilliantly playful language? Not there.)"(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 109 words, 03/02/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: POOR(cg) "...thoroughly debases the genius of the good doctor's book, adding characters, twisting plot points, and replacing Seuss subtlety with Hollywood frenzy."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 190 words, 03/02/12
Claudia Puig, USA Today: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a parable of green vs. greed. All ages are likely to find the cautionary tale entertaining as well as illuminating. Some might even find it galvanizing."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 464 words, 03/02/12
James Rocchi, MSN Movies: WEAK(cg) "Co-directors Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda earn some points for evoking the Seuss aesthetic remarkably well... But it's all padding..."(See all of James Rocchi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 664 words, 03/01/12
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: VERY GOOD(cg) "...solidly entertaining - not quite as good as 'Horton Hears a Who' or 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' - but unquestionably better than 'The Cat in the Hat.' "(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 926 words, 02/29/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "...a noisy, useless piece of junk, reverse-engineered into something resembling popular art in accordance with the imperatives of marketing and brand extension."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 885 words, 03/02/12
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...charmingly animated... the filmmakers, who worked on 'Horton' as well as 'Despicable Me,' deftly balance entertainment with education."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 380 words, 03/02/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...keeps intact the ecological message... this version adds a whole lot of other stuff, most of it not very good and not in keeping with the spirit of the Seuss original."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 768 words, 03/02/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "...there's a lyric about life in Thneedville painting the place as 'plastic and fake and they liked it that way!' And it's too close to the movie's truth..."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 650 words, 03/02/12
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "A lively adaptation of Seuss' ecological fable, with terrific voice work from Helms and DeVito as philosophical foes."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 364 words, 03/02/12
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: POOR "The badness of the picture is a shock.... You can still discern the stark fable beneath the movie's jokey tone, but barely: The devastation is nearly complete."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 758 words, 03/05/12
Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...definitely a joy... Chris Renaud and his team use 3-D creatively and with panache, and they have assembled the perfect voice talent and animation design crew."(See all of Bill Zwecker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 703 words, 03/02/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "...the lesson will please or displease parents according to their prejudices, while the means of delivery is an offense that transcends party lines."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 275 words, 03/07/12
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: OUTSTANDING(cg) "From the opening song-and-dance production number... to the adorably comic critters who live in the lush valley... packs a visual punch and a worthy message."(See all of Linda Barnard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 716 words, 03/02/12
Phil Brown, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...filled with silent slapstick, celebrity voice cameos, pop culture references and overlong musical numbers. Seuss won't roll over in his grave - just shudder slightly."(See all of Phil Brown's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 170 words, 03/01/12
KEY CITIES (12 Reviews)
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: WEAK(cg) "Like 'An Inconvenient Truth' for the 12-and-under crowd.... a movie that progressives can feel good about taking their kids to, without actually having a good time."(See all of Michael O'Sullivan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 565 words, 03/02/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: WEAK(cg) "Oddly, for a message film about conservation, the bulk of the movie is inert filler. The simple charm that makes Seuss magical is crushed beneath the stuffing."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 396 words, 03/02/12
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE(cg) "...harmless... sunny and funny and cute, from a trio of harmonizing fish to the spunky grandma voiced, inevitably, by Betty White.... It's perfectly sweet."(See all of Amy Biancolli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 376 words, 03/02/12
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Filled with blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail... moves along swiftly, barely giving us time to wonder at the rainbow of cotton-candy trees, their heads gently floating in the breeze."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 395 words, 03/02/12
Jody Mitori, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: VERY GOOD(cg) "...while the movie is funnier than the book, the drawback of this modernized version is that it loses the timeless quality of the story on the page."(See all of Jody Mitori's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 362 words, 03/02/12
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: GOOD(cg) "There is nice stuff found in 'The Lorax' -- Thneedville's artificial nature is inspired -- and bad, like the original songs nobody will be humming when they leave the theater."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 555 words, 03/01/12
Chris Vognar, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a little overstuffed with story. But the design is witty and imaginative, and the small grace notes are enough to keep an open-minded adult giggling."(See all of Chris Vognar's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 387 words, 03/02/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (10 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "...the lesson will please or displease parents according to their prejudices, while the means of delivery is an offense that transcends party lines."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 275 words, 03/07/12
Tasha Robinson, AV Club: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a harmless, pretty confection. In defanging it for comic effect, the filmmakers have done Seuss as much of a disrespectful disservice as if they'd laid on the fart gags."(See all of Tasha Robinson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 566 words, 03/01/12
Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline: WEAK(cg) "More a bowdlerization than an adaptation... so big, flashy and redundant that it courts precisely the kind of blind consumerism it's supposed to be condemning."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 898 words, 03/01/12
Nick Schager, Slant: VERY GOOD(cg) "...failing to significantly enhance its source material's ideas but still delivering a zany, rollicking, multi-character version of Seuss's environmental cautionary tale..."(See all of Nick Schager's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 641 words, 02/29/12
Phil Brown, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...filled with silent slapstick, celebrity voice cameos, pop culture references and overlong musical numbers. Seuss won't roll over in his grave - just shudder slightly."(See all of Phil Brown's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 170 words, 03/01/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: POOR(cg) "...disgusting... the worse that Hollywood has to offer, because it represents how far over backward the industry will bend to perpetuate its own horrible 'ideals'..."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,298 words, 07/30/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (2 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "...a noisy, useless piece of junk, reverse-engineered into something resembling popular art in accordance with the imperatives of marketing and brand extension."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 885 words, 03/02/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...keeps intact the ecological message... this version adds a whole lot of other stuff, most of it not very good and not in keeping with the spirit of the Seuss original."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 768 words, 03/02/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: FAIR "...wobbly pacing and routine kidpic elements make for an experience that feels not just tiresome and rudderless but antithetical to the Seuss spirit."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 795 words, 02/29/12
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter: VERY GOOD "...the most satisfyingly Seussian big screen effort to date.... entertains while delivering its pro-environmental, anti-greed message wrapped in a bright package..."(See all of Michael Rechtshaffen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 465 words, 02/29/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...keeps intact the ecological message... this version adds a whole lot of other stuff, most of it not very good and not in keeping with the spirit of the Seuss original."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 768 words, 03/02/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "...a noisy, useless piece of junk, reverse-engineered into something resembling popular art in accordance with the imperatives of marketing and brand extension."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 885 words, 03/02/12
25.7 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax's reviews are separated by an average 25.7 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (41 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Dr. Seuss' The Lorax's reviews cover 71.3% of potential readers (average is 68.0%). Volume:The film's reviews total 22,613 words involume (average is 20,221 words). Length:The film's reviews average 552 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Coverage, Volume & Length (41 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 7.4 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.3 Release)
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax's reviews on average broke 7.4 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.3 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Dr. Seuss' The Lorax's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (41 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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