Over the Hedge (2006)

 

Cute Animated Film Fun For All Ages

 

 

Not into the controversy of The Da Vinci Code?  Then check out Over the Hedge, the best animated film I’ve seen since The Incredibles.  It may not proclaim Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene or be in the same league as animated classics like Toy Story, but it’s a cute, funny film that the kids will love and kids at heart will enjoy as well.

 

Over the Hedge is based on the popular comic strip by Michael Fry and T Lewis.  I was a little leery of seeing the movie at first because the comic strip is one I always skip over when getting my intellectual stimulation (reading the “funnies”) everyday.  I’ve always thought the strip was, well… really stupid, and not very funny.  But fortunately I was pleasantly surprised.  The movie features the same characters as the comic strip, but in the movie they’re much more likeable.

 

Over the Hedge features a plethora of big-time star voices including Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, Eugene Levy and even music star Avril Levigne.  It basically has no plot, but what animated feature does?  The film starts off with RJ the raccoon (Willis) stealing food from hibernating Vincent the bear (Nick Nolte).  But Vincent wakes up and catches the vandal in the act, giving RJ one week to replace his stash of junk food.  Thus, RJ travels to the human world, where he is sure he can find the goods.  On the way to suburbia, he meets a group of animals, led by Verne the turtle (Shandling).  Verne is a reluctant turtle, who knows things are wrong when his tail is twitching, and boy does RJ the wild raccoon make his tail twitch.  But RJ is a smooth talker, and he convinces the animals to join him in rising over the hedge and raiding the humans’ homes for food.  The humans fight back by hiring a “Verminator.”  Loads of rabid wackiness ensue.

 

Again, there are a lot of big name Hollywood voices here, and a number of them shine.  Bruce Willis is good as the cool and cocky, but lonely raccoon RJ.  Gary Shandling is appropriately subdued as Verne the turtle.  Wanda Sykes is perfect as a loud-mouthed witty catlike skunk named Stella.  But the show stealer is Steve Carell as Hammy the squirrel.  Adorable, hilarious and insanely energetic, Hammy is every bit as memorable and a scene stealer as Scrat from Ice Age.  Whether he’s wee-weeing, finding his nuts, or on a high-octane caffeine jolt, the laughs are incessant when Hammy’s on the screen.  Some of the other celebrity voices are a weakness, however, as voices like Nick Nolte, William Shatner, and Avril Levigne add little to the picture other than an audible distraction. 

 

The animation isn’t astounding, but it’s solid.  DreamWorks still is a good step short of Pixar, but they do manage to make many of the animals, especially RJ and Hammy, exceptionally cute visual characters kids will love.

 

If you’re a frequent reader of my reviews, you may remember me absolutely loathing Ice Age: The Meltdown a few weeks earlier.  Over the Hedge is everything Ice Age 2 aspired to be.  Ice Age 2 was stupid and boring.  Over the Hedge is stupid too, but it’s a cute, funny stupid that kids will laugh like hyenas at and adults will grin all over about.  Over the Hedge also contains a surprisingly strong moral message about the importance of families, without being preachy, that is refreshing.  And at a runtime of only 83 minutes it’s both short and sweet.  It may not be a classic animated film, but if you would consider an average animated movie “the hedge,” then Over the Hedge rises well above it.

 

                                                - Movie Review By G. Roger Priddy (5-20-06)