He’s as cuddly as a cactus, and he has termites in his smile, the one and only Mr. Grinch.

He has been a staple Christmas villain since 1966 when the original cartoon came out. Filmed as a remake in 2000, 18 years later Illumination has come out with their very own iconic adaption.

Released into theaters across the U.S. on Nov. 9, the film has already been a box office success within its first weekend of being on the market.

I got a chance to go and see the movie this past Saturday with some dear friends, and needless to say, we all thought it was deserving of high praise.

This new film is directed by Scott Mosier, director of Free Birds, and Yarrow Cheney, director of Secret Life of Pets. It is rated PG, which typically means all members of the family can go see it.

The movie starts showing all the Christmas festivities in Whoville, with the narrator explaining the plot, adding Dr. Seuss’s famous rhymes to it. We eventually meet the Grinch, who is living on the top of an abandoned, snowy mountain just north of Whoville with his dog Max.

The Grinch’s heart is two sizes too small for a sad reason that the audience finds out later in the film. He has to go out into the town to buy groceries, and while being there, is bombarded by a lot of Christmas cheer to which he despises.

A few days go by and he finally declares he has had enough of this nonsense known as Christmas. He plans to steal Christmas from the citizens of Whoville. To do this, he will dress up as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve and go to each Who’s house and steal all of their decorations and presents.

He spends a good amount of time planning his scheme out, and along the way, funds a reindeer named Fred to guide his sleigh. Fred is a chubby, but loyal companion.

Unfortunately, while test-driving the sleigh, Fred is met by his wife and son whom he seems to miss very much. Having a soft spot for Fred, the Grinch lets him go back to his family and now has nobody to guide his sleigh.

After this happens, the movie follows the plot of the original Dr. Seuss cartoon, except in this version, Cindy Lou Who plays a big part of the Grinch’s conversion at the end of the movie.

Overall, this movie is very worth it to see, especially if you want to get in the Christmas spirit and focus on what really matters during the Christmas season. This is a must-see for Christmas 2018.