BOTTOM
LINE:
A cute
CG cartoon filled with some very loveable characters and a wacky,
fascinating story, but also has many strong life-lesson themes underneath
its kiddy-friendly surface, making for a kids' movie that adults
can enjoy at their level as well.
THE GOOD:
Going in to a movie based on a
Dr Seuss book, you have to know you're going in to something quite
off centre and this very successful adaptation of "Horton Hears
A Who" definitely lives up to that credo. While frolicking
in the forest one day, Horton the Elephant hears a yelp coming from
a speck on a flower, eventually discovering an entire village of
'Whos' living on it; the problem is, no one else can hear them,
and when "Kangaroo", leader of the jungle, sees Horton
trying to convince people of what he's heard, she tries to bring
him back in to line with deadly force while Horton is determined
to put the speck in a safe place so the citizens of "Whoville"
can live peacefully. Apart from the usual appeal of a movie like
this to kids with its loveable characters, odd-ball storyline and
some fabulously rendered CG visuals, this film is cut above the
rest in that it has some very strong themes, least of all being
that all people should be treated equally, no matter their shape
or form. Or perhaps a larger theme is the idea that we shouldn't
ever block our minds to other possibilities, which applies to both
Horton (who in an excellent sequence points out that we could all
be living on a speck and someone up there could be looking down
on us and we'd never know) and the Mayor of Whoville who has to
convince his town that they are living on a speck without them thinking
he's mad. These themes give the film a larger quality that goes
beyond your simple children's story and makes for some entertaining
and thought-provoking sequences that even adults will enjoy even
if the kids don't. Jim Carrey is perfect as Horton, and for the
most part is restrained (although there are some exceptions) and
Steve Carell is likewise perfect as the Mayor of Whoville who is
just trying to keep his town safe. A nice touch is that the film
is narrated with the words from the book in certain places, and
given that its CG you feel like you're watching a 3-D, moving version
of the original book.
