We're the Millers

When you think of the comedy genre of late, you would come up with a word that is used to describe activities that may exceed boundaries of common sense.  In case you are still wondering about what I am talking about, the word would be "slapstick".  And that is exactly what I expected from “We’re The Millers” when I walked in to the hall.  Surprisingly, I was in for much better than what I expected.

The Hangover 3

At the outset, I would like to apologise for this delayed review of a movie that released 2 weeks back.  A friend asked me if it was similar to Hangover 2 and whether he should watch it.  I hadn’t seen HO2 and so decided that I would take this opportunity to watch HO1, 2 and 3 and then review all 3 together.

The Hangover 2

The thing about a hugely successful movie is that from a commercial perspective, a sequel is in order.  The ingredients of a successful sequel – and you are well aware of my thoughts on that – include the same director and largely the same cast.  That condition definitely checks all boxes for Hangover 2.

The Hangover

I am quite sure that a lot and more has been written about what is considered by many as probably the best comedy movie made in the past decade – Circa 2000-09.  I watched Hangover once again a few days back because I had to check it out before reviewing one of the worst movies in a long time – Hangover 3.  Just to be sure if I had my expectations ill placed or not.

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

I like Dr. Seuss’s stories. I was very late on catching up with the folks at Whoville. But when I eventually did, I was quite pleased with what I saw. I thought Jimmy Hayward & Steve Martino put in quite a good effort with it and would have thought they would continue. But I guess since the stories don’t have any connection, it was not an unfair call to go with Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda who have recently delivered a nomination at the Oscars with Despicable Me. So with that in mind, would you be correct in expecting another solid attempt from Renaud and Balda? Maybe yes.

First of all, The Lorax is an absolute kiddy movie. There is very little that an adult can look forward and definitely lesser for a movie critic – amateur or otherwise. But I must say that the movie has been made extremely well for the audience of the said age group. There were quite a few of these 3 footers who were running around the aisles of the cinema hall having a good time both during the movie and the interval.

What makes it watchable is the simplicity of its story. Much like Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who. This one tracks the life of The Once-Ler (Ed Helms) who stays in a place far far away from the closest settlement of Thneedville – a place so perfect that it seems obvious that it is artificial. Thneedville is run by this 2 foot man called Mr. O’Hare (Rob Riggle). O’Hare not only owns Thneedville but most importantly, runs a business that supplies clean water and air to the residents. Something that would not have been possible otherwise in that part of the world.

How did it all come to this? That’s what our hero – Ted (Zac Efron) decides to trace back. Thanks to a wish that Audrey (Taylor Swift) makes about wanting a real tree. The story goes that The Once-Ler in his desire to create the biggest invention of time – The Thneed – chops down the first tree. This calls in The Lorax (Danny De Vito) – the protector of trees – who warns the Once-Ler about the consequences. But when the Thneed becomes a rage, Once-Ler succumbs to family pressures and chops all of them down leaving the world tree-less.

Every Dr. Seuss story has a message and this one is could not have been more relevant to today’s day and age. And the quality of animation is definitely top class. If anything is a bit weak – it could be the simple nature of the story line. But as I said earlier, kids will love this for certain. Don’t watch The Lorax expecting too much from it. Watch it if you have about an hour and a half to kill and don’t want to stress yourself too much with some heavy movies. 6 on 10.

Trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1238212889/