The future of Easter is at stake when the next Easter Bunny has bigger dreams than following in his dad’s footsteps.
What They Say:
The battle for Easter is on! In HOP, Despicable Me‘s Russell Brand voices E.B., the teenage son of the Easter Bunny. On the eve of taking over the family business, E.B. leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream of becoming a drummer. Once there, he encounters Fred (James Marsden), an unemployed slacker with his own lofty goals. Feigning injury, E.B. persuades Fred to take him in, and Fred finds himself living with the world’s worst houseguest. Back on Easter Island, a power-hungry chick who has lived in the shadows for far too long has been plotting a coup to take over one of the biggest jobs in the world. Now that E.B.’s gone, he’s got his chance. As E.B. discovers who he really wants to be and who he’s meant to become, everything will lead him and Fred to an epic showdown to try and save Easter.
The Review:
In general, I really don’t go to kids oriented CG animated movies in the theater as they’re largely not worth the premium, especially with two kids and then often the “necessity” to see it in 3D. I do believe in giving the kids the fun of a theatrical experience since I grew up with it, but the movies like this are ones that I tend to avoid since more than half the time they feel like shovelware. Simple plot, “cool rock music” to appeal to nostalgic parents and lots of corny jokes and so forth. It’s things we’ve seen a lot of in the last decade and having kids that grew up during it, I’m pretty tired of it. Events did get me into the theater late one Sunday evening for Hop though, a movie I was fully intending to wait for rental on, but I gave in on it since it wasn’t 3D and we managed to get in at matinee prices.
I had some fears with Hop from the start because unlike most of what’s been out lately, it’s a CG/Live Action mix. The last couple that I saw of this nature were things like the Alvin movies and a Brendan Fraser movie involving animals that shall not be named. This one gives us Russell Brand as E.B., the upcoming Easter Bunny who will take over from his father using the Egg of Destiny when his time comes. It’s been twenty years since a young bunny first saw the big operation underneath Easter Island where all the magic happens and the pressure has been intense. E.B. is feeling like he can never measure up to his dads expectations and he’s also found a real passion elsewhere in playing the drums. With Easter just a few weeks away and the ceremony coming up to take over the reins of power, E.B. has decided to fly the coup and use the special portal to escape to Hollywood to pursue his dream.
The flip side of the coin follows a similar path as in the world of the humans, we’re introduced to Fred O’Hare. At a young age, he saw E.B.’s father delivering to his yard but nobody ever believed him. He’s had a bad run of luck when it comes to work since getting older, now in his late twenties, but a lot of it is just this sense of not finding the right thing. He’s been living at home, but after an intervention he wants out of there. Luckily, his sister sets him up with a house sitting job at a really nice mansion where he’s able to get himself back on track for a job interview she set up for him. While he does have some positives with all of this, it has a big dark side as well as he runs over E.B. after he got turned away at the Playboy Mansion since he’s not exactly the right kind of bunny. E.B. guilts him into staying with him in the big mansion and the mismatched couple is born. Of course, Fred has to come to grips with a talking bunny that can kick at the sticks when he shows him what he can do on Rock Band.
Once the two are together, we get the usual round of gags and events that showcase their differences and how they each learn from each other in order to be better people. And bunnies. E.B. manages to blend into the everyday world of Hollywood without being taken oddly as people kind of just ignore the fact that he’s bunny (and they completely ignore the three Pink Beret bunnies that are sent to hunt him down as they move rather openly in the streets) and there’s even an extended piece where E.B. auditions for David Hasselhoff’s talent reality show. It’s not exactly clear how these critters fit in with reality, and the question is only lightly touched upon, but there’s something to be said for just a bit of magic being involved with it and simply letting it happen.
Hop hits all the usual marks as it moves towards the inevitable conclusion, and being the kind of film that it is, once you get the basics in the first few minutes you know how it will go. What I found with Hop though is that it’s a movie that has moments that make you smile, but it doesn’t make you really laugh. With quite a few kids in the audience, very few things actually elicited laughter from them. My kids enjoyed it, and said it was an eight out of ten, but it didn’t make them laugh like you’d expect a film of this nature to do so. There’s some fun gags to be had here, especially with the chicks and the head chick with Carlos, but they don’t really hit it out of the park. They’re the grin inducing types at best and only a few of the gags aimed at adults really register as being effective. It’s cute, but it’s all so painfully obvious that it lacks any impact.
The cast for this was something that I really did enjoy as it has a lot of actors that I like. The most surprising was Russell Brand as E.B. as he basically gave what I think was his first charming performance. I’ve liked him in a number of things, but with his usual style of humor I don’t think he can carry a film on his own. In this form, he gave the character a good sense of humor and a feeling that he wasn’t like he was expected to be. The most surprising for me was seeing James Marsden in the role of Fred simply because he looked unlike most of what he’s really known for, such as Scott Summers in X-Men and the prince in Enchanted. I still think he really needs to find the right role to bring him real star status, but this isn’t it. Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins turn in fun performances as his parents, but Kaley Cuoco proves that while she’s spot on for TV (having been a fan since 8 Simple Rules), I don’t think she’s got the right look for the big screen. As always, Hank Azaria completely nails it as Carlos, but that was a given since I think he’s one of the best voice actors in the business with an incredibly amount of diversity.
In Summary:
Hop has its moments, but it’s the kind of film that feels like it sounded a lot better on paper than what was actually put to completion. There’s a lot of potential here, and I like kids movies that aren’t all about the big noises and actions and all, but this doesn’t feel like it connected all that well because of its nature. I’m still leery of the movies that blend CG with live action but they get it mostly right here outside of the bedroom sequence with Cuoco as E.B. looks too out of place, reminiscent of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The actors turn in good performances but the material is mediocre at best. Brand is the standout here simply because it feels like his most normal and human performance to date that I’ve seen and actually has me liking him more than I thought I would. There’s fun to be had here, but not a great deal of it and not the kind that will leave a lasting impression on you. It’ll be a great popcorn rental flick for a hot summer day with the kids in a cool air conditioned room, but it’s not a worthwhile theatrical trip.
Grade: C
Recommendation: Rental only
