Reviews by Matt

There are unwritten rules of movie going. These are just common courtesy things like never answer a phone call during the movie, never take up both arm rests, never sit right next to someone in a theater that is not packed, if you think you are going to have to get up at any point you should sit on the ends so you do not disturb anyone and of course, never ever talk after the opening credits begin.

That rule though has some caveats, some addendums if you will. If you are going to a movie where the majority of the audience has not lost all their baby teeth, then you should expect some, if not a ton, of talking.

This past weekend was one of those times. I went to see “Horton Hears a Who” and as I expected, there a lot of children.

Normally I would have had to kill someone who made as much noise as just one of those kids, but when you go to a G-rated movie, it comes with the territory.

In fact, my friend and I had one little girl run down to our end of the aisle and sit next to us a few times during the movie.

Normally an invitation for instant death, but with a kid that cute, you cannot get mad or even mildly annoyed.

Amidst all the children talking and running around there was a movie going on.

“Horton Hears a Who” is the latest adaptation of a classic Dr. Seuss book. Horton (voiced by Jim Carrey) is an elephant who one day hears a noise come from a speck of dust. The speck lands on a clover and Horton discovers that there is an entire city of Whos on the speck. The Mayor of Whoville (voiced by Steve Carell) is the first to have contact with Horton. He has noticed that strange occurrences have been going on and finds out that they need to achieve stability if their society wants to survive. He asks Horton to help get them some place safe.

Meanwhile Kangroo (voiced by Carol Burnett) thinks Horton is making up the entire thing and worries that if he continues he will influence the children badly. She does whatever she can to stop Horton and get the clover.

Of the previous Seuss adaptations, this sticks closest to the original material. It is also the best. With the small exception of a story line within Who-ville, events happen almost exactly as they do in the book.

It was really funny. There was a perfect blend of kid humor and humor for adults. That is what makes a successful kids movie; appealing to the adults as well. There are moments in the movie that will go right over a kid’s head, but the adults will get it.

The Mayor has 96 daughters and one son. When Horton hears that, he says, “Busy guy.” It is these subtle things that make the movie funny.

From an animation standpoint it had a very “Seussian” quality to it. The classic drawings from the book are alive on screen in bright, brilliant color. While the book lacks the color of the movie, something tells me Seuss would approve of what was done to color his work.

The characters on screen matched those from the book exactly. Trust me, I checked. Every one of the major characters looked just as Theodore Geisel first envisioned it all those years ago.

Seuss is a genius. Look at how he takes larger messages and hides them in a children's book. Racial tolerance in "The Sneetches," deforestation and pollution in "The Lorax" and in this movie it is another one of tolerance. Horton says "Even if you can't see them or hear them at all, a person's a person no matter how small." That is the true beauty of a Dr. Seuss book; teaching kids the heavy issues in the form of a book. The movie kept that message of tolerance of everyone no matter race, religion, gender, or even size and did it without being preachy.

Every now and then a kids movie will pique my interest and I will brave into a no holds bard world that is a movie theater full of kids. It may be annoying, and you may want to tell them all to keep it down but, when you venture into the “G” world that is “Horton Hears a Who”, you have to take what you can get.

8 out of 10
Rated G
1 hr 50min