I have no problem with politics being intermingled with entertainment, but as proven by The Lorax, the mixture does not blend well in family films. What starts off like a typical entertaining animated family flick takes a drastically serious turn around the middle mark and never returns to the fun state holds your kids’ attention.
Fox News’ claims about The Muppets having a political agenda at the center of its message was absolutely ridiculous, but what Lou Dobbs has been saying about The Lorax is 100 percent correct. I don’t care whatsoever about the left-wing / right-wing finger-pointing, but you can’t ignore the fact that The Lorax carries a heavy and blunt message about greedy businessmen, shady corporations and the flaws in the legal system that allow them to destroy the economy at their own benefit. Agree with those ideas or not, the repeated slug-in-the-gut preachy style in which these morals are taught in the second half of The Lorax is unnecessary and uncalled-for, bringing the film to a screeching halt. The soapbox from which these ideas are literally shouted in the second half is so big that it will leave all children disinterested in the movie, stirring in their seats and bored out of their minds.
This didn’t have to be the case. The first half of The Lorax is actually quite fun. The animals and critters that live in the soon-to-be destroyed forest are hilarious. The first half contains everything good about kids movies, but the drastic left turn in the middle kills everything good that The Lorax had going for it.
The Lorax is a musical featuring the vocal talents of Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed Helms and Danny DeVito. Oddly enough, out of that cast, which actor would you think has the most songs? It’s not Taylor Swift. It’s not Zac Efron. It’s not Danny DeVito. It’s Ed Helms. In fact, neither Taylor Swift nor Zac Efron have a single song in The Lorax. Talk about a waste of talent, stunt casting at its worst.
There are plenty of good kids films out there – but The Lorax is not one of them. It’s not worth the expensive price of 3D tickets to take your children to see it, only to have them restless for the second 45 minutes. You’d be better off staying at home and popping in a sure thing – something Pixar or DreamWorks.
