Bar-Ba-Loot Suits

Tonight, I went to see what all the fuss with The Lorax was about.

I'm not one to rank a film on a stars system, so I'll just break down the best and worst of it for you fine folks.

The Pros:

• On a personal note, I saw it with my pal Becky. It's always friendlier with two.
• Visuals were outstanding: loved the colors, textures, and the expansion of that world created by Dr. Seuss.
• Best parts were definitely the ones that were the most Seussian - that funky, stylized, characteristic style.
• I kind of liked the humanization of the Once-ler (mostly because the lack of humanization in the book kind of creeped me out. HE COULD BE ANYONE.)
• The message is still there. I know a lot of folks that have seen the movie were a little up in arms about it, but I still grasped the notion to embrace nature.
• The Bar-ba-loots, Swanny Swans, and Humming Fish were all too cute.
• Danny DeVito makes a divine Lorax.
• Betty White. Obvs.

The Cons:

• The plot got tremendously convoluted with the advent of a new "villain." It was slightly necessary to include that little extension, but it didn't seem to make proper sense.
• Musical numbers were a little too hyper-processed to be all that catchy.
• The film dragged in many places and moved far too quickly in others.
• The 3D was a little overblown (and, on a side note, gave me a wretched headache).
• Why in Heaven's name do you cast Taylor Swift in a musical animated film and not let her sing?

Overall, it was cute, and a warm, fuzzy rendition of the classic Seuss parable of good environmental stewardship, but it felt gimmicky in places and didn't have the same heart that the original book (and even the cartoon had).

Did anyone else see it? What'd you folks think?