Over the Hedge

OVER THE HEDGE may be overrated

The studio that brought audiences the first oscar winning animated feature, “Shrek”, hits the summer box office with the star-studded “Over the Hedge”. Certainly the animation is destined to impress audiences with a lot of action scenes that show off the animators capabilities using the latest and greatest computer animation technologies. However, unlike other recent computer animated features, “Over the Hedge” lets technology steal the show, leaving more important filmic elements, story and character development, in the dust.

A film like “Toy Story” set a new precedent upon its release because the sophisticated story AND animated achievement. One of the most memorable action sequences in “Toy Story” became a classic cinematic moment because during the car chase sequence when Buzz narrowly escapes the jaws of a determined pit bull, the audience not only gets wowed by the animation, but the real excitement occurs and is heightened by the character development that the filmmakers reveal about the relationship, soon to be friendship, between Buzz and Woody. By contrast, “Over the Hedge” has a number of chase action sequences that appear in the film for no other reason than to let the animators say: “look what we can do”.

This is not to say that the script is weak, it is just fragmented. “Over the Hill” does have its moments such as when the racoon, featuring the voice of Bruce Willis, explains to the other animals the relationship people have with food- absolutely hilarious!

This film does not try to accurately depict the animals. There are a few points of accuracy worth noting: (1) it is not unusual for different species of animals to co-exist without conflict; however, I have not heard of different species working together to survive. (2) squirrels are “nutty” as in energetic, but certainly not because of sugar or caffeine (school-aged children on the other hand...); in fact, you can view some live action footage of a California Grey Squirrel that appeared in my feature, “Animal Crackers” to witness the spastic nature of squirrels at: http://www.keaproductionsdv.com/animalcrackers/wildlifephotos.html#rsnake

Overall, “Over the Hedge” is cute and has something for everyone in the family, but not enough- don’t believe the hype.