Hop Released 1 April 2011 Director Tim Hill Starring Kaley Cuoco, James Marsden, Russell Brand, Hugh Laurie, Hank Azaria, Elizabeth Perkins Writer(s) Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, Brian Lynch Producer(s) John Cohen, Christopher Lennertz Origin United States Running Time 94 minutes Genre Animation, comedy Rating G

12

Hop Off!

For what seemed like a golden age, there was peace between parents and kids. When it came to going to the cinema, the parents were quite happy to bring the kids to the likes of Toy Story, Shrek, Finding Nemo and Up. These films, mostly from Pixar, could appeal to both children and adults with their witty scripts, wonderful story-telling and high production values.

Then in 2007, Alvin and the Chipmunks came along. This was a remake of a TV cartoon show from the ‘60s and it combined live action with computer-generated chipmunks. It was panned by the critics and should have died a swift death but instead it became a huge international hit, earning over $360 million at the worldwide box office.

Despite having nothing to appease the adult audience it became a monster success regardless. Hollywood executives, never ones to miss a chance to take the lazy option, took note. Why bother putting hard work into scripts and stories when you can just throw any old crap onto the screen and let the money roll in? Alvin and the Chipmunks spawned a sequel (they actually called it a ‘squeakquel’ for God’s sake!) that was an even bigger hit and now the director of the original film Tim Hill is back with Hop.

Hop tells the story of the Easter Bunny and how Fred O’Hare (James Marsden) became the first human to get the job. In an opening prologue we see Fred as a child getting a sight of the Easter Bunny delivering candy. He grows up to be something of a slacker and his parents (Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins) and sister (Kaley Cuoco) are forced to hold an intervention to get him out of the family home.

Meanwhile EB (Russell Brand) is having problems of him own. The rabbit is the son of the existing Easter Bunny (Hugh Laurie) and is due to take over the role from his father but he’s not interested in the job and wants to be a drummer instead. Someone who does covet the job is Carlos (Hank Azaria) the leader of the chicks who help produce the candy. He’s currently the second in command but he thinks he should be number one and he’s feeling mutinous.

Rather than taking the job, EB runs away to Hollywood and meets Fred, when he accidentally hits the rabbit with his car. He decides to move in with Fred but the Pink Berets, a trio of rabbit commandos are on EB’s tail to bring him home.

This all may sound like fun, but it’s not. There is a total absence of any kind or wit or charm to this project. The fact that the film had eight (yes, count them, eight!) different writers is never a good sign. It’s a mess and it’s not helped by the poor performances of both the live action and voice cast. James Marsden is just plain irritating as Fred and Kaley Cuoco, who’s very good in TV show The Big Bang Theory, isn’t in it long enough to make any impact.

The biggest offender though is, of course, Russell Brand. Quite how this Granddad-abusing, talentless hack of a comedian has become an international acting star is quite bewildering and once again his presence (even if only in voice form) is simply nauseating.

The worst thing about this type of film is the way the makers presume that all children are idiots. So they talk down to them with ‘jokes’ that are safe, bland and obvious. What they fail to realise is that children, even young children, are capable of picking up humour far more sophisticated than they give them credit for.

You could bring the kids to this film, but do yourself and them a favour and bring them to the park instead. This garbage is an insult to us all.

- Jim O’Connor