Over the Hedge (2006)

 

Genre: Family/ Comedy

Time: 1h 23mins

Directors: Karey Kirkpatrick, Tim Johnson

Quick Summary: A scheming raccoon fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of food, by invading the new suburban sprawl that popped up while they were hibernating...and learns a lesson about family himself.

When I was a kid, I had a crush on the skunk.

Genuinely, this is fun for absolutely everyone. It's so god damn fun and enjoyable to watch. So many different kinds of jokes are packed into it, aimed at both kids and adults. There is even a Citizen Kane reference scripted which to me was hilarious. Mostly though, the humour is towards kids but who cares, it's still so funny.  Somehow this tackles themes of consumerism, materialism, and the consequences of excessive consumption, all while keeping the jokes going flawlessly. For such as short film this is impressive

Visually, this isn't amazing. There are a lot of empty-looking scenes or when they zoom out to show all the houses, they painfully show they were just copied and pasted and also barely had any details to them. As well, some of the textures looked a bit strange like they weren't rendered in the highest quality. Though the slapstick really does make up for it as watching those silly little creatures get pinballed through various garden things was hilarious. 

A lot of people remember this film from their childhood, me included, and even though it really hasn't stood the test of time visually, the story is classic and so is the humour. What makes it so memorable is how well-known the cast was, and some of them actually surprised me when I looked them up. Bruce Willis, Steve Carell, Avril Lavigne and many others like that. The developed cast all receive moments where their quirks are crucial to the narrative, also heavily playing into their individual animal characteristics which I absolutely loved. Hammy the ADHD squirrel will always be one of my favourites.

It does fall into predictability on what is going to happen, even if you haven't seen this a million times like I have, it's pretty obvious how the film was going to end. The 2000s were also a time when they loved to shove montages in films as much as they could, with really upbeat light music and usually shenanigans. I never get tired of them, they're just so fun to watch, especially with this little group of critters and the various ways they steal food.

I am pretty sure this actually started the media trend of Karens too because this has one of the most perfect depictions of one I have ever seen. Horrible, frustrating woman who makes everyone else suffer because the grass is 0.5mm taller "than it should be" and would "bring down the property value of the street". Absolute nutcase.

This is a classic to me and extremely underrated for years. I really can't think of anything I hate about this, aside from the now janky-looking visuals, but that's so minor compared to how fun and enjoyable the whole film is.

9/10

"Stella: I'm gonna gas you so hard your grandchildren will stink!"

"RJ: Now if a human does happen to see you, just lay down, roll over and give your privates a good licking. They love it!"

"Verne: I thought we'd be dead by step two, so this is going great."