Over the Hedge (2006)
Directed by Karey Kirkpatrick
A scheming raccoon fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of food, by invading the new suburban sprawl that popped up while they were hibernating – and learns a lesson about family himself.
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6 films that influenced Over the Hedge
What critics say influenced Over the Hedge
With films like “Shrek”, and now this, their studio really breeds films that are hit or miss (Shrek 2, A Shark Tale).
You have to give credit where credit is due: Under the helm of co-directors Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, a lot of people clearly worked very hard on this film with the aid of technology that's come a long way even since the original "Shrek" from 2001.
This scene alone is worth the price of admission, but Over the Hedge is so consistently hilarious and polished that it can be grouped with the likes of Shrek.
While not quite up to par with the eye-popping visuals of the Pixar films (although it's still quite good and certainly light years ahead of some of this year's other animated offerings) and not really containing anything resembling a complex story (this one's geared for a slightly younger crowd than played to the likes of "Shrek" or "The Incredibles"), the film more than makes up for such shortcomings with its copious, fine details.
We have seen it all before, the likes of Shrek, Ice Age, and most recently the subtly successful Hoodwinked.
The morally strong group leader who fears being replaced by an exciting newcomer is pure Woody and Buzz; Verne the cautious turtle is a spiritual brother to the worried father in “Finding Nemo” ; the happy dog whose overexcited dialogue consists only of “Play?
Considering how the marketplace has changed, maybe it's unfair to compare Over the Hedge with the likes of Toy Story, Shrek, and Finding Nemo, but there's a world of difference.
They'll be mesmerized by color and noise watching the frantic slapstick adventures of RJ the raccoon (Bruce Willis), Verne the turtle (Garry Shandling) and a skunk (Wanda Sykes) who seems to have named Stella solely for the purpose of setting up "A Streetcar Named Desire" joke.
Although there are smart performances by Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, and Steve Carrell and the animation has taken a giant leap forward from previous outings such as 1998's "Antz" and 2004's "Shark Tale," the film lacks affable characters and a coherent story to sustain interest.
The cheeky family comedy, from the people behind "Antz" and "Chicken Run," wags its finger at all of us humans for buying more food then we need — fast food, junk food, food we have delivered because we're too lazy to leave the comfort of our cookie-cutter houses and drive to the grocery store in our gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles, which, like the ever-growing encroachment of suburbia, are contributing to the destruction of the environment the cuddly "Over the Hedge" creatures call home.
But the direction by Tim Johnson ("Antz") and Karey Kirkpatrick (writer of "Chicken Run") sets a nice visual tone, portraying the disaster-prone neighborhood like a game of The Sims gone horribly awry, with the occasional mushroom cloud livening up the action.
Still, as co-directed by Tim Johnson (Antz) and Karey Kirkpatrick (the screenwriter of Chicken Run and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), Over the Hedge is a bright, vibrant treat.
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Think of all those wonderful upward looking shots from "Toy Story."
The animation, full of canted perspective shots to highlight the animals’ disorientation in a human world, is confident and sure of itself, and if not packed with the same sort of background-detail jokes to which adult audiences of the Shrek and Toy Story films might have grown accustomed, then no less involving for the distinction.
Although there are smart performances by Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, and Steve Carrell and the animation has taken a giant leap forward from previous outings such as 1998's "Antz" and 2004's "Shark Tale," the film lacks affable characters and a coherent story to sustain interest.