7/10
Enjoyable animated madness
When raccoon RJ accidentally destroys bear Vincent’s entire food supply, Vincent gives him one week to recollect the food, or else... RJ sees a chance to fulfill his mission (and save his life) when he meets a group of forest animals led by turtle Verne, whose food supply has just been cut off by a suburban neighborhood surrounding a tiny remaining speck of forest. RJ decides to take them over the hedge and into suburbia to discover the wonders of nachos, cookies and energy boosters.
I didn’t like Dreamworks Animation’s last few efforts, as I thought Shark Tale and Shrek 2 were almost insulting and completely uninspired with their total reliance on pop-culture references and I found Madagascar simply unfunny with mediocre animation. Over the Hedge is Dreamworks’ latest animated comedy adventure and one I thoroughy enjoyed. As per usual with contemporary animation the cast is almost entirely made up of celebrities lending their voices to the characters, further putting professional voice actors out of a job, but this time around the filmmakers were able to hold back on the pop-culture references to make place for some actual comedy. Also, unlike in Madagascar where I kept thinking Chris Rock, Ben Stiller and David Schwimmer had stranded on an island instead of the characters they were voicing, in Over the Hedge the actors’ voices seemed to disappear more into the characters and therefor distracted less from the fun. Especially Garry Shandling as turtle Verne, Steve Carell as frenetic squirrel Hammy and William Shatner as overly dramatic possum Ozzie stood out in an all-around good cast.
There is a lot to laugh about in Over the Hedge, without ever reaching the comedy level of Monsters, Inc. (I totally cracked up in the scene where Hammy has an energy drink though), and it offers a neat adventure story, without ever being near as exciting as The Incredibles. Over the Hedge is short (less than 90 minutes), frantic, colorful, funny, adventurous, it looks great and it has some very lovable characters. Both young and old are sure to enjoy this one.