6th April, 2008
DAVID ADAMS
Dr Seuss' Horton Hears A Who! (G)
In A Word: Delightful
|
FACE-OFF: Horton protects his speck from Kangaroo.
"Not over done, nor under done, Horton Hears A Who! is just right."
|
It’s Dr Seuss on the big screen as it should be.
Horton the elephant (voiced by Jim Carrey), lives a happy-go-lucky life in the Jungle of Nool until one day he hears a voice coming from a speck and discovers that it belongs to the Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carell), the leader of an entire nation which is resident on the spot.
The meeting leads to troubles for both Horton and the Mayor (who, having 96 daughters and one son, you might already expect to have a few!). Horton finds himself facing the wrath of the conservative Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) whose catchcry is that if you can’t see it, hear it or feel it, it doesn’t exist and whose greatest fear is that Horton will lead others in the jungle astray with his wild claims of a tiny nation living upon a speck.
The Mayor, meanwhile, faces a backlash when he attempts to warn Whoville of the impending danger they face at the hands of Kangaroo, who wants nothing less than to destroy the spot. He is shouted down by the town’s elders who don’t want to jeopardise the upcoming celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Whoville (a place where nothing has ever gone wrong).
And thus the scene is set for a story in which Horton is faced with all sorts of obstacles - including a vulture called Vlad and a hoard of nasty monkeys known as the Wikershams - as he tries to save the speck while the harried Mayor does his best to protect a people who think he’s going nuts.
Based on the book of the same name, Horton Hears A Who! has plenty of lessons about faith, family, friendship and the value of a person ("After all", says Horton, "a person is a person, no matter how small") and, as one would expect from Dr Seuss’ many absurd creations, plenty of laughs including a scene in which Horton imagines himself a hero in the mould of a character from Japanese anime.
Not over done, nor under done, Horton Hears A Who! is just right.
~ www.hortonmovie.com
SEE
THE SIGHT ON THE SCREEN ARCHIVES FOR MORE...
|
