My Movie Review on Hop (2011)
Salutations, my friends.
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, to celebrate Easter, I'm gonna give you guys my take of Illumination's "Hop".
Here's the summary of this Easter tale:
Fred O'Hare is a jobless main who is forced to move out of his parents' place because they want him to 'grow up'. E.B. is a talking bunny whose father wants him to eventually take his place as the Easter Bunny, but yet...E.B. desires to be a drummer.
When E.B. runs away from home in order to become a famous drummer, he and Fred cross paths and are forced to stay together at the former's insistence.
Meanwhile, the Easter factory's second-in-command, Carlos the Chick, organizes a plan to overthrow E.B.'s father and takeover Easter.
What's in store for this group of characters?
Well, the best way to know is to find out.
In all honesty, despite my interest in seeing this movie, I had very low expectations for it because of the mixed to negative reputation it had. As a matter of fact, I was expecting it to be a film that I would either rate a two or three out of five stars.
After watching it on Netflix, though...I was taken completely by surprise! It was a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be!
I mean, the only setback I couldn't help but note was that many of the jokes were rather flat in terms of execution and being funny. That, and there were parts that felt a little straightforward in some ways.
Other than that, this film was one that I found to be surprisingly underrated!
The direction by Tim Hill, the story by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, and the screenplay by them and Brian Lynch, were extremely well-done. Despite the negatives I already mentioned, there was still a wonderful sense of complexity, heart, and moral that helped the movie be intriguing and alive. Along with that, there were lots of jokes that were absolutely hysterical and fun, the part where Fred pretends he's doing a ventriloquist act with E.B. pretending to be the puppet being a particular example.
The animation used with the rabbits and chicks were impressive as well. I didn't expect much from them, but when I saw the movie, I was amazed by how well they mixed with the live action world the film took place in. Tim Hill certainly didn't push himself into making the effects groundbreakingly realistic, but that obviously wasn't the intention. In a way, the rabbits and chicks appeared to be more like real world cartoon characters, and Hill did a great job at making them that way while getting them to seem so alive and real in the process.
The music by Christopher Lennertz was enjoyable too. He certainly isn't like the top dogs of the music industry, such as John Debney and Hans Zimmer, but he incorporated terrific tunes that boosted this movie in having a sense of fun. The best of the musical elements were the use of drumming. Plus, the film's use of "We No Speak Americano" was entertaining as well.
Finally, the performances of the cast, the characters, and the character development were amazing.
Out of all of the human visible cast members, James Marsden gave perhaps the most realistic and professional performance. He gave his character of Fred O'Hare great personality and humor, and his interactions with the animated characters were accurate enough to make it seem like they were right there with him. The vocal performances of Russell Brand as E.B., Hugh Grant as the Easter Bunny, and Hank Azaria as Carlos and Phil were likewise outstanding. Brand and Azaria incorporated splendid personalities, energy, and comedic-timings into their characters, having a lot of the best and funniest lines every step of the way. Additionally, Hugh Grant's performance as E.B.'s father was lovable enough for me to favorably compare it to his work as Steve in "Arthur Christmas". To top it all off, each character I mentioned wasn't without great development.
Also, interesting fact, but Russell Brand played a minor part of a human production assistant for David Hasselhoff's "Hoff Knows Talent".
In the end, "Hop" may be flawed, but it's unexpectedly fun and worthwhile in its own way. It's original as an Easter-based film, the performers appeared to be having a good time with their material, everything.
So, I rate Illumination's "Hop" 4½ out of 5 stars.
