Hop is hopeless. It's so confused, creatively and commercially, that it's not quite sure what it wants to be. Clearly the byproduct of too many sugar-saturated studio brains, it's part fluffy animal fairytale, part lame cultural commentary ("Look - it's David Hasselhoff! Aren't we cool?") and part soiled collection of cinematic leftovers. What other movie would have a CG rabbit (voiced by Russell Brand) playing drums with the Blind Boys of Alabama during an unnecessary staging of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," or feature the acerbic female comic Chelsea Handler sans her normal biting bitchiness? Between the crack-headed casting, the lack of a coherent approach, and the numerous nods to blatant audience pandering, this is destined to be an unfathomable box office hit -- and a thorn in the side of most enlightened film fans.
When he was a young hare, EB (Brand) couldn't wait to be the next Easter Bunny. His dad (Hugh Laurie) is a benevolent rodent who runs the Easter Island facility with the help of his head baby chick, Carlos (Hank Azaria). Fast forward twenty years and EB is no longer interested in colored eggs and marshmallow. Instead, he wants to be a drummer, and runs away from home to seek his fortune. He lands in Hollywood and into the lap of 20-something slacker Fred (James Marsden, who is 37, by the way). At first, the human thinks this talking rabbit is nothing more than a hallucination, brought on by the stress of his family forcing him out and into the real world. Soon, he discovers the novel truth, the bunny's rock and roll dreams, and his own connection to the entire Easter holiday mythos. Oh yeah -- and while EB's away, Carlos plans to overthrow his father and run things "his" way.
It was only a matter of time. Santa Claus has his own motion picture burden. So does the Tooth Fairy. Now, everyone's favorite jelly-bean-pooping furball has his own celluloid cross to bear. While occasionally cute and breezy, Hop is also soulless and incredibly stupid. It's an entertainment aimed directly at a brain bombarded by multiple mediocre movie choices. The family film is a dying art -- the good one, that is. In its place are pointless endeavors like this, movies that toss in unimaginative musical moments (in a pinch, what is EB's song selection of choice? "I Want Candy") and random slapstick to cover up the lack of originality. This is an obvious film, complete with the coup d'état subplot, peeps who play like last year's Despicable Me minions, and some late-in-the-last-act family forgiveness. Who knew that becoming a fictional part of the holiday season could make one's jaded, judgmental father so proud?
Of course, the core demographic will care nothing about this. They'll be too busy imagining themselves smack dab in the middle of the Easter Bunny's Willy Wonka-like candy mill. By exploiting the contemporary audience's amazingly short attention span, the movie gets away with a lot of inconsistencies. Director Tim Hill, who has already blazed a trail of terrible kid vid favorites with Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties and Alvin and the Chipmunks, may have some skill in the cartoon world (where he worked on shows such as Rocko's Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants), but he has no knack for translating his "talents" to the big screen. Everything here is flat, dull, and dreary.
Still, as long as the adorable little bunny is dumping his delicious stool all over the place for people to pick up and chew, the movie is making its point. Hop may seem like nice, innocuous fun. Sadly, it's just a shrill collection of crap.
When he was a young hare, EB (Brand) couldn't wait to be the next Easter Bunny. His dad (Hugh Laurie) is a benevolent rodent who runs the Easter Island facility with the help of his head baby chick, Carlos (Hank Azaria). Fast forward twenty years and EB is no longer interested in colored eggs and marshmallow. Instead, he wants to be a drummer, and runs away from home to seek his fortune. He lands in Hollywood and into the lap of 20-something slacker Fred (James Marsden, who is 37, by the way). At first, the human thinks this talking rabbit is nothing more than a hallucination, brought on by the stress of his family forcing him out and into the real world. Soon, he discovers the novel truth, the bunny's rock and roll dreams, and his own connection to the entire Easter holiday mythos. Oh yeah -- and while EB's away, Carlos plans to overthrow his father and run things "his" way.
It was only a matter of time. Santa Claus has his own motion picture burden. So does the Tooth Fairy. Now, everyone's favorite jelly-bean-pooping furball has his own celluloid cross to bear. While occasionally cute and breezy, Hop is also soulless and incredibly stupid. It's an entertainment aimed directly at a brain bombarded by multiple mediocre movie choices. The family film is a dying art -- the good one, that is. In its place are pointless endeavors like this, movies that toss in unimaginative musical moments (in a pinch, what is EB's song selection of choice? "I Want Candy") and random slapstick to cover up the lack of originality. This is an obvious film, complete with the coup d'état subplot, peeps who play like last year's Despicable Me minions, and some late-in-the-last-act family forgiveness. Who knew that becoming a fictional part of the holiday season could make one's jaded, judgmental father so proud?
Of course, the core demographic will care nothing about this. They'll be too busy imagining themselves smack dab in the middle of the Easter Bunny's Willy Wonka-like candy mill. By exploiting the contemporary audience's amazingly short attention span, the movie gets away with a lot of inconsistencies. Director Tim Hill, who has already blazed a trail of terrible kid vid favorites with Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties and Alvin and the Chipmunks, may have some skill in the cartoon world (where he worked on shows such as Rocko's Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants), but he has no knack for translating his "talents" to the big screen. Everything here is flat, dull, and dreary.
Still, as long as the adorable little bunny is dumping his delicious stool all over the place for people to pick up and chew, the movie is making its point. Hop may seem like nice, innocuous fun. Sadly, it's just a shrill collection of crap.
