Hop To It!

Hello everyone out there and welcome to another movie review.  I'm TheCinemaChick, back with another movie to talk about.  Today we have a real treat for everyone.  I get to discuss a movie I actually liked.  Fry and I decided to see Hop yesterday.  Shockingly, it was fantastic.  I thought it would be completely aimed at a younger audience but there is plenty in it for everyone.

Hop is the quasi animated feature film, starring James Marsden as Fred and Russell Brand as E.B.  It starts off a bit confusing because we begin the film in Easter Island (ha ha...funny joke there), then without warning switches to California.  We see both characters as children, then jump right into the main plot.  Fred is unemployed and living with his parents, who stage an intervention to get him to find a job and his own place.  E.B. is about to suceed his father as the Easter bunny.

Do we see a theme here?  Easter Island, rabbits, Hop...yup, it's an Easter movie.  It reminded me of a Christmas story you'd see in December only less "after school special"-y.

Well, E.B. decides he wants to be a drummer and runs away to Hollywood to make it big.  Fred is housesitting for his sister's boss when he accidentally hits the rabbit with his car.  He takes E.B. in and learns of his talent.  The true easter bunny sends the pink berets out to find his son so that Easter can still take place. I loved the pink berets.  Think ninja bunnies with iPhones.  Fred messes up on a job interview but agrees to take E.B to an open audition.  "Hoff Knows Talent" which is an obvious ripoff of "America's Got Talent" agrees to let the bunny attend an live taping of the show.  This scene was funny because Fred does ask "Aren't you amazed that I'm a talking rabbit?"  To which the Hoff replies, "My best friend is a talking car."  Only adults will get the Knight Rider reference there.

However, the pink berets track E.B. to the house he's hiding out in and he makes a big mistake.  He fakes his death by wrapping one of his shirts around a frozen turkey and boiling it.  I'm pretty sure a boiled rabbit looks much different than a turkey, but I digress.  Fred is captured and the bird is taken back to Easter headquarters.  The HQ is pretty cool.  It's very Willy Wonka, only not as creepy and with more rainbows.  That was a beautiful scene.

This is where we have the main conflict.  Carlos, a chick and the Easter bunny's right hand man has staged a coup de tat ("which is French for 'coup de tat!'").  The rabbits are locked away and Carlos has the egg of destiny.  Of course, this is a childrens' movie so you know it's going to have a happy ending.  Fred steps up and helps save the day, along with the help of E.B.s drumming.  Then, Fred and E.B. become co-Easter bunnies.

I liked this movie.  I really did.  Yes, it has problems and there are parts where I got bored, but overall it was entertaining.  I'm learning to love Russell Brand.  He even makes a cameo in the film.  A production assistant comes in to tell E.B that he has two minutes.  Brand makes a face like he's slightly disgusted by a talking rabbit and comments that it's weird.  Fry and I had a good laugh about that one.

What does TheCinemaChick think?
Go for it.  Matinee would be best, full price if you want.  I would recommend it to families who want to make an outing and see a movie together.  It is a little scary towards the end but only for a few minutes.  It leaves you feeling good and fuzzy.

Up next?
Hanna
Your Highness
Arthur (more Russell Brand goodness)

more fun with Butterfly and Fry!

There you go, my thoughts on Hop.  I'll see you guys again soon with another new release and see if it's worth a movie ticket or not.

On behalf of my movie watching crew, I'm TheCinemaChick, wishing you a pleasurable movie experience.