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Jacob-the-Fox-Critic — Over the Hedge (2006) Review

Published: 2021-01-24 23:51:49 +0000 UTC; Views: 5162; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 0
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Description Lets continue our DreamWorks marathon with a bunch of animals doing what the title says and entering suburbia to get food.

RJ the Raccoon fails to get a stuck bag of nacho chips to fall from a vending machine. He decides to raid the food stash of Vincent, a hibernating bear; however, when he opens a can of "Spuddies", Vincent awakens, and the food is accidentally destroyed during the ensuing chase. RJ promises, on pain of death, to replace it in a week's time. The bag of chips falls moments later, to RJ's intense frustration. Meanwhile, a blended family of animals led by Verne the turtle awakens from hibernation and finds a giant hedge has been built between them and their foraging grounds. While the rest of the family (Stella the skunk, Ozzy the opossum and his daughter Heather, Hammy the hyperactive Squirrel, and porcupines Penny and Lou and their three children) stays behind, Verne cautiously goes across, only to find the foraging grounds have been replaced by a housing development. After a frightening experience, he returns and forbids the family to cross the hedge. RJ, who was watching, feeds the animals the chips and convinces them the humans have better food. He guides the family in stealing food from the humans against Verne's wishes, and they soon fill a hollow log with food. RJ plans to steal it all and give it to Vincent once the time is right. Verne still distrusts both RJ and the humans, especially when his family is chased away by HOA president Gladys Sharp. After multiple incidents with the animals stealing food, Gladys hires top exterminator Dwayne LaFontant. Will the animals be successful in getting enough food while also eluding the humans, and how long will RJ keep up his charade?

Pros:
1. RJ is a decent protagonist.
2. Verne, Hammy, Stella, Ozzie, Heather, Lou, and Penny are all pretty good supporting characters.
3. Pretty funny minor characters like Tiger and the Rottweiler.
4. Gladys, Dwayne, and Vincent are both threatening and funny villains.
5. A good majority of the comedy is pretty funny.
6. The film has it's own unique charm compared to some of the other DreamWorks films.
7. A pretty thrilling climax.
8. Great voice acting from an all star cast.
9. Rupert Gregson-Williams delivers a pretty neat score.
10. A few pretty decent songs by Ben Folds.
11. Some good chemistry between the characters.
12. Very well crafted animation.
13. The story for the most part is pretty well written, and stays true to the original comic strips.
14. Despite the large amount of food products shown, the film surprisingly didn’t put in any product placement.

Cons:
1. It is pretty easily predictable due to using the 'liar revealed' trope.
2. There are a few lackluster jokes.
3. A few animal inaccuracies.
4. Spike, Bucky, and Quillo aren't as interesting or funny as the other characters.
5. It does get a bit too cruel at times.

Overall:
Although not as good as some of the other DreamWorks movies, this is still a good fun time.

Rating:
7.5/10 (Good to Great)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. The film was originally set up at 20th Century Fox through its Fox Animation Studios division, but was put on hold when the studio closed down due to the failure of Titan A.E. In February 2001, it was later picked up by DreamWorks Animation under the leadership of its CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg when Fox put the film in turnaround.
2. Jim Carrey was originally set to voice RJ, but in October 2004, he left the project and was replaced with Bruce Willis.
3. The film was originally going to be released in November 2005; however, in December 2004, the date was changed to May 2006.
4. The movie spawned a couple of video games. A direct movie tie-in for PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS, and Hammy Goes Nuts for Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PSP.
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Disneyponyfan [2021-07-31 05:27:23 +0000 UTC]

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voltagelife7 [2021-04-23 16:34:59 +0000 UTC]

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