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Over The Hedge
Directed by: Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick
Starring: Bruce Willis (voice)
Genre:
Animated
Run Time: 83
min.
Release Date:
May 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Animated films have some
stiff competition. Not only do they have to compete against some truly
marvelous predecessors (see SHREK,
HOODWINKED!, and FINDING NEMO),
they also have to entertain not just kids, but adults who enjoy taking
their kids to watch such films.
OVER THE HEDGE has some great animation and some good voices, but we've
seen these things time and again. It also has a morally upstanding
storyline (i.e., not betraying your friends and becoming a part of
something bigger than just yourself), but we've seen that ad nauseam,
too (ICE AGE). What most movie watchers want — regardless if it's
animated or live-action — is something fresh, new, and engaging. And
that is where Over The Hedge fails. We get the same old story, the same
great animation, and the same impressive voice cast.
It is the cast that'll keep you watching it, too. Bruce Willis (DIE
HARD) is the main character, starring as RJ, a raccoon with a big
problem. He attempts to steal all of the food from a hibernating
grizzly's cave (Vincent voiced by the gravelly sounding Nick Nolte,
OFF THE BLACK). When the bear awakens before RJ can make good his getaway,
RJ accidentally lets go of all the food and it slides down the mountain
and is destroyed. He's then given an ultimatum: get the bears food back
within a week or be eaten alive. So RJ heads out and stumbles upon an
interspecies family that have awakened one morning to find their
wilderness world encroached upon by a huge hedge. Urban sprawl has come
to their neck of the woods, and this ragtag group's leader Verne (Gary Shandling) must find out what this hedge is for
and why it's there. But Verne is just one turtle and needs the help of
his extended family. They include Hammy (Steve Carrell,
LITTLE MISS
SUNSHINE), a nonplussed squirrel with hyperactive sensibilities; Stella
(Wanda Sykes, EVAN
ALMIGHTY), a skunk with an image problem; Ozzie
(William Shatner,
MISS CONGENIALITY), an overly-dramatic possum caring
for his family; and a few others.
RJ runs into this clan and spots an opportunity to gather the food he
needs for the bear. Manipulating his way into the family, he teaches
them about junk food, dumpster diving, and the human world "over the
hedge." But with the human world comes danger. Most notable among them
is Dwayne (Thomas Hayden Church,
SPIDERMAN 3), a varment exterminator. Will
RJ risk this innocent animal family in order to save his own neck? The
answer isn't surprising.
Certainly the voices are entertaining, even more so than the script the
actors read. Special notice has to go to Steve Carrell for his
hyper-Hammy squirrel who avoids caffeinated beverages until the end when
his super-speed is increased to Matrix-like proportions. Also, William
Shatner's Shakespearean possum is flat-out fun. But that's it. And for
an hour-and-a-half flick, it's not enough.
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Image from Over The Hedge
DVD cost: $16.99
Purchase:
Barnes and Noble
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Based on "Over the Hedge",
a syndicated comic strip written and drawn by Michael Fry and T. Lewis.
It tells the story of a raccoon named RJ and a turtle named Verne who
come to terms with their woodlands being taken over by suburbia, trying
to survive the increasing flow of humanity and technology while becoming
enticed by it at the same time. Four collections have been published:
Over The Hedge, Over The Hedge 2, Over The Hedge 3: Knights of the
Picnic Table and Over The Hedge: Stuffed Animals.
Movie Quote: "Feel
that buzzing in the back of your skull? That's called a sugar rush."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Over The Hedge
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