My Movie Review on Over the Hedge · 2:39pm Nov 15th, 2019
Hello, my good friends and loyal viewers.
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
And today, for my 7th "Thanksgiving Treat", I'm gonna give you guys a review on Dreamworks's "Over the Hedge".
Here's the summary of it:
After an attempt to steal food from a rather ravenous black bear goes awry, smooth-talking RJ the raccoon must work to payback Vincent by getting him more food within a week, or else he'll be the main course.
When he comes across a human suburban area, he also finds a group of animals called the Foragers, who discovered the human town after waking up from hibernation.
Realizing that he's found a way to payback his debt to Vincent, RJ tricks the foragers into helping him.
As time goes by, though, RJ begins to wonder something:
Is stealing food from his new friends to payback a bear really what he wants? Or could it actually be something else? Like, a family?
This is another Dreamworks movie I've been wanting to review for some time. It's mainly because, similar to Coco, the film is about family, which was why I thought Thanksgiving would be a perfect time to analyze this movie.
I really must say, this movie is another Dreamworks film that delivers perfectly.
The voice acting, casting, characters, and character development were among the elements that I found to be entertaining.
Each and every performer fit their part like they were born to play them, and they sounded like they were having a lot of fun portraying their characters. Even though the dialogue the characters were given honestly wasn't the best, the performers made the material work and be entertaining. It takes great talent for performers to do that, and it's something I really commend. For instance, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, and William Shatner were hilarious in the roles of Hammy the squirrel, Stella the skunk, and Ozzie the opossum; Thomas Haden Church was quite comical portraying Dwayne LaFontant the exterminator; and Bruce Willis and Garry Handling were terrific in the parts of RJ and Verne the box turtle.
The direction by Karey Kirkpatrick and Tim Johnson, and the screenplay by Kirkpatrick, Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, and David Hoselton, were wonderfully done too.
The significant thing about this movie is that it seems to have a balance. It's very straightforward, yet it has a certain complexity about it. It even feels quick, yet it's pretty well-paced too. The concept that the film had, which was about a character trying to get out of the debt of another, was something that I thought was pretty original for an animated film.
In terms of the film's tone, the comedy aspect of it was gut-bustingly funny! Every joke landed with perfect fluency and timing, and it definitely holds appeal for pre-teens and up. Accompanying it, the film also held great emotion and heart, and it was powerful enough to give this movie a soul.
The concept that the film had about family was top-notch with a capital 'T' and 'N'. The growing bond between RJ and the foragers was a truly amazing thing to witness, and the overall development of each individual character is something I'm happy to give a thumbs up for.
The animation that Dreamworks created for this feature was enjoyable, I'll tell you guys that. It certainly won't compete with the accomplished visualization of Pixar, but it's well-worked and groundbreaking in its own way. It was the animation used with the animals and backgrounds that I enjoyed the most.
Finally, the music score that was composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams, including the three songs that were made by Ben Folds, was marvelously melodious. Hearing the soundtrack as I watched the film, I couldn't help but find it to be at a level that's strong enough to compete with Randy Newman's scorings for the Toy Story films, and all in a great way too.
In the end, "Over the Hedge" is undeniably one of Dreamworks's best computer-animated films, thanks to its witty voice acting, great story, dynamic direction, everything! I highly recommend this movie as something for pre-teens and older, mostly because of some of the adult humor.
So, I rate "Over the Hedge" five out of five stars.
I originally considered rating the film 4½ out of 5, but I literally couldn't find anything wrong with it.
My favorite part was when Dio used the power of his stand, Za Warudo! and stopped time.
5155963
What?
5155963
You’re talking about the part where Hammy drinks the caffeine drink and time suddenly comes to a halt, right?
5155972
Yeah. All time came to a halt. He must have had a stand that can stop time as well.
That clip came from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.
Anyway, watch Attack on Titan. Your life will be changed.
5155976
I will. As soon as I get some other reviews done.
Despite the character development and great animation, I didn't like it because the humor in this is kinda flat.
5155988
Not to pry, but do you still plan on doing those Star Trek reviews you mentioned?
5156426
Yes. I just haven’t finished the entire original tv series yet. It may take a while considering each episode is often up to 50 minutes long.