User blog comment:OctoYoshi/The Problem With Illumination Entertainment/@comment-32568802-20190715150055

I've only seen two Illumination films: The Lorax and The Grinch. The Lorax was actually pretty good in my opinion, and it had some thoughtful elements. The Grinch...was the definition of "meh". They ruined the Grinch by making him a petty grump instead of the "three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich WITH ARSENIC SAUUUUCE" from the 1966 version. That ruins his character arc and makes his eventual redemption less meaningful.

Another problem with The Grinch was how it spent most of its runtime bungling around and making cheap jokes instead of getting to the main plot: stealing Christmas. The stealing-Christmas plot ended up feeling short and tacked-on, especially for a film based on "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". (Hey, maybe that's why the "Stole Christmas" isn't in this film's title!) It looks like Illumination needed to pad out the film's runtime - maybe the Grinch's story is better suited for a half-hour TV special than for a 90-minute feature film.

I wish Illumination wasn't in charge of the animated Mario movie. I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best...