Bruce Willis is the voice of RJ, the charismatic, smooth-talking raccoon in 'Over The Hedge'. - CONTRIBUTED
NEW YORK (AP):
oVER THE HEDGE, the latest star-studded, computer-animated, talking-animal extravaganza, is an indictment of the same sort of suburban 'overconsumption' that the film encourages through its marketing.
The cheeky family comedy, from the people behind Antz and Chicken Run, wags its finger at all of us humans for buying more food than 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.
We have too much stuff, the film is trying to say, and we continue to acquire more stuff.
And yet, off-screen, Over the Hedge simultaneously embraces a number of companies that provide such stuff and are helping promote the film through advertising. Wal-Mart has made the movie the centrepiece of its summer marketing campaign. There's special Over the Hedge packaging on Crunch 'n Munch snacks. And of course, there are Over the Hedge-themed kids' meals.
The irony!
The children who drag their parents to see this movie certainly won't recognise this incongruity. They will just laugh at the antics of Hammy the squirrel (voiced by Steve Carell), who is hyperactive long before he discovers caffeine. They will be mesmerised by colour 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 parodying A Streetcar Named Desire. That's the whole point.
But hopefully, adults will be circumspect enough to recognise the manner in which the film talks out of both sides of its computer-animated mouth.
Yes, the fur looks furry and the leaves look leafy and the moon and sun shine down upon all of these smart-alecky animals in an astonishingly realistic way. 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.
And while the script isn't so laden with pop-culture references as Shrek and a recent slew of inferior animated films like Shark Tale and Hoodwinked, it's still pretty weak. It essentially requires each of the stars to be themselves, or be the persona of themselves we've come to expect, on cue. Willis' raccoon is street-smart and swaggering. Shandling's turtle is neurotic.
So where is the originality? And more to the point, what's the point?
If Over the Hedge aims solely to entertain, it does so in a way that's mildly amusing but mostly hackneyed. If it aims to instruct, it weakens its own argument with the plethora of product tie-ins.
If you buy into what Over the Hedge is selling, the joke's on you, too.
