Despite the confusion certain people have felt this is not another movie about animals having to find their way into or out of the wild. I mean yes, they are wild(ish), but there's little else of a Madagascar-esque twist to the proceedings (unlike the woefully similar The Wild). In Over the Hedge a bunch of hibernating woodland creatures are about to embark upon their 9 month quest for food when they come in contact with worldly-wise raccoon RJ, voiced by Bruce Willis, who promises to make their arduous task much easier. Naturally for this sort of film this raccoon has a secret that he hides from his naive new friends, that he's doing it for a bear whose food he had 'appropriated'. Meanwhile the leader of the gang, Verne the turtle (Garry Shandling), becomes increasingly jealous and suspicious about the direction they are taking, especially when it brings them into unnecessary conflict with the overly tense leader of the local Housing Association Gladys (Allison Janney), who is oddly attractive for a harsh-faced animated shrew of a woman.
The plot itself, as you can see, is fairly simple. It brings to mind Toy Story quite a bit, with the established but stuffy old leader threatened by a new arrival who may not be all he appears to be. The supporting cast of characters are all pretty much as you'd expect. You have husband and wife team Lou and Penny, played by Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara who clearly only come as a package these days (think any Christopher Guest film), and their three kids, a father and daughter Possum team (William Shatner and Avril Lavigne), manic squirrel Hammy (Carell, who was clearly given full reign to do as he likes), and Stella the skunk (Wanda Sykes), who's single way are just begging to come to an end. Most do a good job though Carell and Sykes stand out for me as the more comedic of the bunch. Shandling seemed strangely reticent in his performance and Willis also seemed rather oddly cast for his role, though that may just be because I've stereotyped both as different kinds of characters entirely. Possibly the best use of talent though is Nick Nolte as Vincent, the angry bear who forces RJ to use the gang to gather food not for themselves, but for him. His gruff, mean tone is perfect for the king of the woods.
The film is harmless enough by itself, but as with most non-Pixar family movies it simply lacks the inspiration necessary to push it into the highest quality bracket. Like many other recent attempts it lacks both the manic action required to keep the kids happy and also enough double entendres to allow the adults in the audience their own laughs (bar a gratuitous squirrel/nuts gag). The animation itself though is of Pixar quality, and for possibly the first time ever they've really gotten the human characters down pat, both in look and how they move. Dreamworks can be pleased with themselves for that. They just need to ensure that they put more effort into producing the quality scripts they need to seriously challenge Pixar's supremacy, and the voice talents necessary to fully realise the otherwise magically designed characters. |
