Review of Over the Hedge (2006) by Willieg. — 29 May 2006
Not bad, but just 'OK' overall. For me, this animated film failed to live up to expectations in 2 areas. First, it was lacking comedic voice talent in the lead roles. Willis and Shandling were OK, but they don't impart even a fraction of the comedic voice talent of someone like Eddie Murphy or Steve Carell.
Carell was hands down the best voice talent in this film, though I think everyone else did a great job as well. By comparison, Vern and RJ cam across as rather deadpan, and they both left me bored much of the time.
Their characters were too conflicted as well, and they just couldn't bring the laughs with the seriousness written into their roles. The producers could have done far better to give Hammy (Carell) the lead role, leaving RJ (Willis) and Vern (Shandling) as supporting roles.
Moving on to the 2nd area that was lacking, the writing in this film was not so hot. The storyline was anemic, it lacked engaging concepts, and most of all it lacked enough laughs. The human characters in the film lacked any comedic value whatsoever, and they were WAY overdone.
All in all, I think this film needed more lighthearted comedy, and less seriousness about the themse of family and consumption. Hammy was easily the best part of the film. "But I like the cookie.
..
This review of Over the Hedge (2006) was written by Willieg. on 29 May 2006.
Over the Hedge has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
