Bilgi :Over the Hedge, the latest computer-animated offering from DreamWorks, is a fast-paced and silly 80 minutes of lightweight family entertainment. Based loosely on the popular comic strip of the same name, the film is populated with a loveable cast
of goofy animal characters, voiced uniformly well by a variety
of big-name actors. It is more successful prat-falling than
moralizing, but it manages to stay engaging for kids and
adults alike right through the end credits.
Possums Ozzie (William Shatner)
and his daughter Heather (Avril Lavigne) enjoy some of
the wonders of suburbia
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RJ (voiced by Bruce Willis) is a
food-obsessed raccoon living near an interstate campsite. His
proximity to humans (and their trash) has afforded him the
opportunity to develop a potato-chip addiction so severe he is
willing to risk life and limb in order to steal the winter
larder of a hibernating bear named Vince (a menacing Nick
Nolte). The bear awakens, a struggle ensues, and the bounty of
saturated fats and preservatives (human junk food) is lost in
an unfortunate cliff incident. Vince spares RJ's life only on
the condition that the raccoon replace every morsel of stolen
food within a week.
RJ knows he cannot come close to amassing the
required provisions on his own. He is wandering through the
woods pondering his demise when he comes across a group of
foragers just stirring from their winter sleep. Verne the
Turtle (Gary Shandling) is the cautious and kind leader of an
odd little community of critters, including Hammy the
hyperactive Squirrel (Steve Carell), a possum father and
daughter (William Shatner and Avril Lavigne), a family of
lovable, down-home porcupines (Eugene Levy and Catherine
O'Hara), and a no-nonsense skunk named Stella (a
perfectly-cast Wanda Skyes).
The con-artist raccoon RJ (Bruce
Willis) hatches a plan for Hammy (Steve Carell)
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The animals discover a strange, foreboding
object intersecting their forest and, despite their decision
to name it "Steve," retreat in fear until RJ explains that the
new apparition is a hedge. The freshly formed subdivision on
the other side represents a foreign threat to the
forest-dwellers, but RJ sees a golden opportunity. It takes
only minimal snack exposure to hook the awestruck animals on
the food humans keep in "gleaming silver cans" outside their
homes. (Even the wary Verne has to admit that tree bark has
nothing on the "magical combination of corn flour, dehydrated
cheese solids, BHA, BHT and good old MSG" that makes nacho
cheese chips irresistible.) RJ realizes with relief and glee
that it will be easy to con his naïve new friends into
unwittingly helping him acquire enough groceries to satisfy a
homicidal bear.
What ensues is an epic struggle between
animals and suburbanites, with the latter being represented by
a couple of caricatured humans: Gladys, a shrill Homeowner
Association President (Dictator) voiced by Allison Janney
(The West Wing), and The Verminator, a militant
exterminator brought to life by a delightfully over-the-top
Thomas Haden Church. The battle culminates in a brilliantly
funny action sequence featuring an extremely caffeinated Hammy
the Squirrel. (Star Trek aficionados say the scene is
inspired by an infamous episode entitled "Wink of an Eye," but it's hilarious with or
without knowledge of the Trekkie connection.) Along the way
Wanda gets a makeover and a Pepé Le Pew-inspired romance with a house
cat named Tiger (Omid Djahili), the porcupine children get to
drive a car, and RJ gets to learn the true meaning of
family.
Over the Hedge has a good deal of fun
skewering suburban consumerism, particularly as it relates to
calorie consumption. In one grin-inducing scene, RJ gathers
the animals around a dining room window and lets them peer in
as family members bow their heads to say grace. RJ explains
the human relationship to food—they package the food, they
ship the food, they store the food, they serve the food, and
then, of course, they pray to the food. Watching the homo
sapiens gather around barbecue grills, refrigerators and
pantries, it seems self-evident that food is the object of
their worship. Popcorn-munching audiences will find most of
these scenes more amusing than preachy, although there are
times the script gets a bit heavy-handed and teeters over the
edge of Political Correctness.
Tiger (Omid Djalili) is smitten
with Stella (Wanda Sykes), disguised to look like a cat,
a la Pepe Le Pew
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William Shatner and Avril Lavigne's father
and teenage daughter possums are a real highlight of Over
the Hedge. Ozzie, the father, has the possum gift for
playing dead as a survival technique in times of peril.
Shatner has a great time lampooning his infamous acting
techniques in overwrought death scenes that feature classic
film and theatre dialogue. Heather, the daughter, is
continually and understandably mortified by her father's
theatrics. There is a nice arc to their story and a sweetness
to the resolve in their relationship that is amusing and
compelling at the same time. Less successful is the overall
storyline about RJ's need to learn the importance of family.
The moralizing there feels obligatory, more a tacked on
"lesson" than an organic part of the story. Fortunately,
Over the Hedge keeps plowing ahead with enough comedic
force to overcome any of its shortcomings.
Over the Hedge was directed by Tim
Johnson (Antz, Sinbad) and Karey Kirkpatrick (writer of
Chicken Run and brother of acclaimed Christian music
producer and artist Wayne Kirkpatrick). In the competitive arena
of CGI movies, they've crafted a solid contender. Over the
Hedge does not have a story as realized and compelling as
Finding Nemo or as innovative as Shrek, but it
is refreshingly free of the current-but-fleeting pop culture
references that marred Shrek and sank Shark
Tale. The film's messages—pro-family (really more
"pro-community"), pro-ecology, and anti-consumerism—sometimes
feel a bit forced. But Over the Hedge is genuinely and
consistently funny, for both children and parents. And in a
world of often-unfunny kid features, that's a triumph. |
