Hop

E.B. (Left): I love playing drums and talking with my English accent.
Fred (right): I'm worth more than playing second fiddle to you.

I watched this entirely because of a little guy, and with the assumption that it's all animated CGI.

Hop is about the story of E.B. (voiced by Russel Brand), next-in-line Easter Bunny who just wants to play drums and be a star. So he runs away from Easter Island and ends up with Fred O'Hare (James Marsden). And so they bond and save the outgoing Papa Easter Bunny from his chick sidekick who wants to take over his role.

I'm not even going to pretend it makes sense because clearly, the film demands you to suspend judgement and all reason in order to enjoy watching it. I love Russell Brand, but the film can't make up its mind on whether to be a father-and-son flick, a coming of age story, or an Easter special. All the events in the story feel contrived to accommodate a bunny who can talk and plays drums. And like other movies that pit animated CGI characters with real actors together, the resulting interaction is a hit or miss. Although Marsden did an okay job given his role, it becomes moot and academic once you start digging for a solid story line. Same with the supporting cast, which is collectively a "barely-there" talent. Lowest point: David Hasselhoff. Tsk. Tsk.

For the good part, I present to you the saving graces of this film:

Easter Bunny Elite Guard The Pink Berets—one of which is endearingly asthmatic.

Phil—You can't stop his butt from feeling the beat and dancing. 

Hop gets a three out of ten, for even kids deserve an intelligent film. It's just never enough now to have cute animated characters in a film anymore after Pixar (just the first company who set the bar in animation higher, but not necessarily the only one who can do such now). You also got to have a good story that shows a lot of heart.


*photos from allmoviephotos.com