Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
Universal Pictures | Release Date: March 2, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
11
Negative:
6
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanFeb 29, 2012
The movie is like a less original "WALL•E," but it's still vibrant and touching. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondMar 1, 2012
This is purely warm, wonderful, wise and hilarious family entertainment that is fantastic movie fun for everyone. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 1, 2012
There is no denying that the environmental message is heavy-handed. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 2, 2012
Director Chris Renaud and his team have fun with these dithery, frenetic characters. The film is less special when it slows down and takes a breath of fresh air. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJody MitoriMar 2, 2012
While the movie is funnier than the book, the drawback of this modernized version is that it loses the timeless quality of the story on the page. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 1, 2012
Someone in Hollywood ought to speak for the trees, and The Lorax does it with verve and vibrancy. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisMar 1, 2012
It's been animated by the same company that made "Despicable Me,'' which is to say you don't know whether to watch The Lorax or lick it. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 29, 2012
The result is solidly entertaining - not quite as good as "Horton Hears a Who" or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" - but unquestionably better than "The Cat in the Hat." Read full review
75
Slant MagazineNick SchagerFeb 29, 2012
The Lorax is a modest gem, failing to significantly enhance its source material's ideas but still delivering a zany, rollicking, multi-character version of Seuss's environmental cautionary tale. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenFeb 29, 2012
Armed with a splendid voice cast and a gorgeously-rendered 3D-CG landscape, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax entertains while delivering it's pro-environmental, anti-greed message wrapped in a bright package of primary colors that truly pop. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMar 3, 2012
There is nice stuff found in The Lorax - Thneedville's artificial nature is inspired - and bad, like the original songs nobody will be humming when they leave the theater. But good intentions don't trump mediocre filmmaking. If that makes me a Grinch, so be it. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianStan HallMar 1, 2012
It's technically impressive but sluggish, with an uneasy mix of cute and gloom. It occasionally finds an effective balance -- mostly in the scenes that explicitly recall the book -- but inevitably lacks Seussian soul. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFeb 29, 2012
Although the movie's ecological message is dominant, it's not heavy-handed. Rather, the ecological warnings are tossed out with the same joie de vivre the Once-ler displays when tossing marshmallows to the bears. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly RichardsJul 23, 2012
Lovely to look at and with some fun material not of Seuss' invention, but it's too hectoring, like reading an environmental textbook with jolly pictures. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMar 1, 2012
While softening Geisel's darker themes, they still meld a valuable message into catchy songs, bright images (nicely done in 3D) and funny characters. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfFeb 29, 2012
Unfortunately, a new problem rears its head: It seems no young audience member can be trusted to enjoy a thoughtful story without a heroic, borderline-obnoxious surrogate (here, he's voiced by Zac Efron) zooming around on a scooter, bonking villainous heads and saving the day. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonFeb 29, 2012
The handful of songs are catchy, and the whole film feels pleasantly airy. But this is a dark story with a heavy message, and it's been transformed into a harmless, pretty confection. In defanging it for comic effect, the filmmakers have done Seuss as much of a disrespectful disservice as if they'd laid on the fart gags. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterMar 1, 2012
So it's puffed up with lots of extraneous stuff – Super fun for the kids but for grown-ups? Just fluff. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliMar 1, 2012
You know what? The whole thing is harmless. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 1, 2012
You couldn't accuse the film of practicing what it preaches: careful stewardship of a precious resource. Read full review
40
Total FilmJonathan CrockerJul 19, 2012
Fake plastic trees, fake plastic entertainment? The Lorax is immensely colourful, catchy and cheery. Then again, it's also gaudy, bland and recycled. You can do better. Read full review
40
Village VoiceNick PinkertonMar 3, 2012
Par for the course in blowout CGI adaptations, a great deal of detail and bustle is gained at the expense of charm - for all the miracles these armies of animators can achieve, they have yet to successfully reproduce a humble artist's line. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 1, 2012
This movie version adds a whole lot of other stuff, most of it not very good and not in keeping with the spirit of the Seuss original. Read full review
40
MovielineStephanie ZacharekMar 1, 2012
The Lorax is so big, flashy and redundant that it courts precisely the kind of blind consumerism it's supposed to be condemning. It doesn't trust kids to sit still and pay attention for even a minute. Read full review
38
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 1, 2012
A cautionary environmental tale with a thin veneer of entertainment on top. With its cotton-candy-colored palette of orange, pink and purple truffula trees, it looks like a bowl of fuzzy Froot Loops. But it goes down like an order of oatmeal. Sure, it's good for you. It's just not terribly good. Read full review
30
VarietyJustin ChangFeb 29, 2012
The key to Seuss' tales, as with all good fables, is not only their cleverness but their surpassing elegance and simplicity, qualities that this busy, over-cluttered contraption of a movie seems entirely uninterested in replicating. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 2, 2012
Yikes! Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda direct strictly for short-attention spans on a fruit-loopy palette that made me want to puke. Had Dr. Seuss lived (he died in 1991), I'm confident he would have puked as well. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithMar 1, 2012
The Lorax is awful, like chronic disease. Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 3, 2012
Dr. Seuss's The Lorax [sic] isn't Seussian in spirit. It's shrill and campy and stuffed with superfluous characters. Read full review
10
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMar 1, 2012
The movie is a noisy, useless piece of junk, reverse-engineered into something resembling popular art in accordance with the reigning imperatives of marketing and brand extension. Read full review
More From This Movie

46 Critic Reviews

5.9 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL