Could have been better!
Written: Aug 23 '06 (Updated Aug 23 '06)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: High standard of CGI, characters well realised, moments of slapstick.
Cons: Toilet humour drives the film, nothing to appeal to adults and older children.
The Bottom Line: Take your young uns to see it but do not expect to be kept amused yourself.
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| barongreenback's Full Review: Over the Hedge |
RJ the Raccoon has made a slight error of judgement in that he has stolen vicious grizzly bear Vincent's winter horde of convenience foods from his cave. This error is compounded when Vincent wakes up from his hibernation and, in the ensuing carnage RJ accidentally pushes his horde into an oncoming truck. To say Vincent is a bit miffed would be a massive understatement but RJ is given one last chance to avoid a slow and painful death. He must replace each and every item before the next full moon when Vincent's hibernation is due to end. Surely, an impossible task? Fortunately, RJ stumbles across a naive group of foragers whose only goal each year is to collect enough food for winter. Can RJ convince these saps that the bounty that lies "Over the Hedge" is worth the risk?
"Over the Hedge" is another offering from the Dreamworks studios who created "Shrek". Unfortunately, with such a landmark film to follow you are sure of only one thing. "Over the Hedge" was always going to be a disappointment. This is a film with an impressive line-up of voices including Bruce Willis, William Shatner and Eugene Levy yet despite this it somehow is not quite the film it could have been.
However, before we delve into why this film should have been better lets go into what is good about it. As with the majority of animated films in production today, "Over the Hedge" is created using CGI or Computer Generated Imagery. Unsurprisingly, the animation of the animals is top notch and characters are imaginatively rendered with a human element that allows them to express a full of range of emotions. The menagerie of animals are an intriguing and amusing bunch. Particularly amusing characters include "Hammy", the hyperactive squirrel (think Speedy Gonzales on red bull) and "Ozzie", the possum with a penchant for amateur dramatics. "Over the Hedge" is also a film with a strong moral theme. As with a lot of American made children's animations, the emphasis is on the importance of the family although it is good to see that this is celebrated in its many forms. As this is a film aimed at the younger age range (our three-year-old enjoyed it), the fact that stealing and greed is wrong is a major theme and somewhat hammered home although the chance for redemption is also hinted at. This makes "Over the Hedge" a great film for pre-school children as it acts as a tool to surreptitiously sneak in a bit of "right and wrong" into their film watching.
Despite my ramblings about the ethical benefits of "Over the Hedge", this is a film that should be primarily about entertaining children and adults. Sadly, this is were it all starts to go that little bit wrong. Young children around aged seven and below will undoubtedly find the toilet humour that drives this film hilarious. Skunks threatening to fart, burping and squirrels needing to pee is the height of hilarity to my seven-year-old son. My two teenagers largely sat somewhat non-plussed throughout. Nowadays, CGI films have the ability to appeal to all ages groups yet "Over the Hedge" is severely lacking in this respect. The in-references and parodies in films such as "Shrek" and even, to a lesser extent films such as "Ice Age" and "Madagascar" are very rare here. Parents may smile knowingly at RJ's rant at consumerism and recognise the exterminator as an Arnie wannabe but that is as good as it gets. My wife and I resorted to a, "isn't that the bloke from American Pie?", guess the celebrity voice game. The only thing that intrigued my teenage daughter was that one of the possums was voiced by Avril Lavigne.
This brings neatly onto the voice acting. The central character of RJ, voiced by Bruce Willis is dull, dull, dull. Willis appears to be on autopilot with a hero that we can have no empathy with and he is not given a particularly likeable character. Indeed, it would appear all the big names here are merely picking up a paycheck. Perhaps, most disappointing is the underuse of Eugene Levy as "Lou". This is a guy with an impeccable comic timing which is never utilised in "Over the Hedge". Indeed he is given only a small role as the wary hedgehog. Fortunately, the film is saved by the impressive turns of the almost cameo roles with William Shatner putting in a wonderfully pantomime performance as the dramatic possum "Ozzie" and Avril Lavigne giving a surprisingly likeable voice to his daughter. Likewise, Steve Carrell is superb as "Hammy" and adds some much needed comdey relief. Also, there is a nice use of American college pop-rock used throughout which keeps the film flowing nicely.
"Over the Hedge" is a polished film that just does not offer everything you would expect of a cast of this pedigree. There is plenty of action here to keep young children amused for its ninety minute running time. There are moments of humour if you like slapstick but this is definitely not as family film but rather one to sit your youngest children in front of if it comes on television. As an adult I cannot recommend this film but I think my seven and three year old children would.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Good for Kids
Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Script
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Epinions.com ID:
barongreenback
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Member: Dave
Location: United Kingdom
Reviews written: 58
Trusted by: 16 members
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