Empire's Over The Hedge Movie Review

Plot
Racoon raconteur RJ (Willis) gets in over his head when he tries to nab a wagonload of food from a bad-tempered bear (Nolte). The hoard gets smashed and RJ has mere days to replace it, so cons a group of innocent woodland creatures into helping him invade the encroaching suburbia.

Pixar and a pea-green troll aside, CG-animated flicks tend to be an interchangeable bunch. There’s invariably a gang of wiseacre animals, a starry cast and a climactic pursuit. Opening between The Wild and Open Season, DreamWorks’ Over The Hedge doesn’t break the trend so much as tick every box, but happily this adaptation of a popular US comic-strip toils harder than most to earn our affection.

Embracing the demented physics of a Tom And Jerry short, the action sees furry varmints bombing around at supersonic speeds, borrowing a turtle’s shell and even rocketing into space. The pace does slow down occasionally to allow for a Toy Story-lite arc about the importance of friendship, but the witty script ensures a stream of gags that hit.

The recording-booth thesps are also well picked. Bruce Willis is a bit bland as the hero racoon and Avril Lavigne’s for the tweenies only, but the rest of the cast bring plenty of personality, in particular Steve Carell as hyperactive squirrel Hammy, stealing as many scenes as nuts.

The CG-’toon formula might be getting as knackered as Droopy, then, but this has enough frenetic fun — and few enough preachy ‘lessons’ — to make it a surprisingly agreeable diversion.

Verdict
You’ll soon be sick of digital furballs, but there’s plenty of fun here — and Hammy is up there with Ice Age’s Scrat in the pantheon of lunatic movie rodents.

Reviewed by Nick de Semlyen

Over the Hedge Review
Even if it's not an animation classic, Over the Hedge is clever and fun, and the jokes cater to family members of all ages. ... More


Posted by the film man at 22:00, 02 January 2012 \| Report This Post



2nd best animated movie of 2006(Monster House)
Bruce Willis and Steve Carell are great in this movie,It"s just truly a highly enjoyable film.Empire is wrong giving this movie 3 stars. ... More


Posted by JohnPaul1996 at 16:38, 27 June 2008 \| Report This Post




any 'tooner stands or falls on its characters, and here they're an endearing, cheering bunch, there's the inevitable flannel about family values, but the film reaps enough goodwill for viewers to turn a blind eye. ... More


Posted by moviemaniac2 at 18:41, 05 March 2007 \| Report This Post



Over The Hedge
I thought this film was brilliant! Not only is it funny but witty and good looking too. I enjoyed it much more than Shrek which is something to be admired. The CGI was so detailed that it makes the CGI on Shrek, Finding Nemo and even Toy Story look not so good. It's the perfect film for every age and you should watch it the first chance you get!! ... More


Posted by obical at 10:27, 17 February 2007 \| Report This Post



Funny, but could have been hilarious
As the number of CGI'd 'cartoons' have been rapidly increasing over the last year or so, it has become increasingly hard to find a film in that category that does not have the theme of 'animals voice by famous actors perform a series of adventures'. However, Over The Hedge is slightly better than most by having the amusing stant of the animals watching us in our own neighbourhood. Everyone has had, at some stage, an annoying critter raid the bins or get in the way - and now we know how they feel... More


Posted by sull26 at 12:55, 07 September 2006 \| Report This Post



Hilariously patchy
I have to admit that it is a bit heavy-handed in places - usually those that try to bring over the moral of the day: Family may be hard work but they come through in the end. However, that was more than made up for by a little, caffein-intolerant, cookie-addicted rodent with the attention-span of a blowfly on a bad day. Yes, Hammy. My personal favourite and for me the star of the picture. The funniest character I have seen this year, and - I feel like I should whisper this - much much funnier th... More


Posted by fee_kh at 09:12, 15 August 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Just plain boring
I really enjoyed this. Thought that it was very funny in places ("My name is Persian for 'I am Persian'") and had a decent enough story going on. The animation was superb too. Far and away the best Dreamworks film without 'Shrek' in the title, much much better than Madagascar and Shark Tale. The tortoise and the hedgehog family are really good characters. 7/10 ... More


Posted by Paul2j at 13:16, 18 July 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: What is going on with the 4 stars people!
This films rules! The animation looked superb, the characters were brilliant and the storyline was great. RJ was fantastic. He looked so sweet with his ickle face, and the voiceover was perfect. Stella was hilarious. I loved her friendship/love with the Persian cat.illiam Shatner's possum had me laughing with everything he came out with. The overacting on Shatner's part is so funny.ut for me, Hammy was the best.e was so sweet, and so hyperactive. The end bit with the slo-mo stuff was... More

Posted by AgentGoth at 09:07, 11 July 2006 \| Report This Post



What is going on with the 4 stars people!
Were you people not watching the same movie?! It ruled! From start to finish! There was nothing wrong with this film that I can think of! Great cast, great script, great animation, great squirrel!.... it was just perfect! ... More


Posted by Empo at 11:51, 10 July 2006 \| Report This Post




After Shark Tale and Madagascar I feared the worst for this one but was pleasantly surprised. It's fairly entertaining throughout with some good voice work, particularly by Steve Carell and William Shatner. Kids will love it, adults should like it ... More


Posted by skeletonjack at 08:40, 10 July 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Over the hedge
Great film, brilliant characters although more of it should have taken place in space. ... More

Posted by lord of the pies at 20:22, 08 July 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Over the hedge
It' not too bad actually, and certainly one of the stronger animations outside of ry Shrekt it started off quite weak, but it picked up with some funny dialouge and really neat animation throughout. My one major criticism is that the voices didn't seem to 'fit' for me. Bruce Willis and the dude that voiced Vern the turtle just didn't convince for me. Oh, and Hammy was no Scrat... Sorry. A solid 3/5 from me. ... More

Posted by Izzet at 15:56, 08 July 2006 \| Report This Post



Over the hedge
I thought this film would've been a hit on here, I haven't laughed so hard in ages! Blowing things out of proportion is normally frowned upon, but what's not funny about a skunk farting the plug from her bum bum so hard that green smog fills an entire house an proceeds to pour out from every opening? I was reluctant to laugh aswell, currently in crutches, the threat of peeing myself laughing was a daunting one because there was no hope of me making it to a toilet in time. But I laughed, oh - h... More


Posted by CraigWard at 13:03, 08 July 2006 \| Report This Post



Over the hedge
I thought this film would've been a hit on here, I haven't laughed so hard in ages! Blowing things out of proportion is normally frowned upon, but what's not funny about a skunk farting the plug from her bum bum so hard that green smog fills an entire house an proceeds to pour out from every opening? I was reluctant to laugh aswell, currently in crutches, the threat of peeing myself laughing was a daunting one because there was no hope of me making it to a toilet in time. But I laughed, oh - h... More


Posted by CraigWard at 13:03, 08 July 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Over The Hedge
I was looking forward to this. I thought it looked the best out of quite a few computer animated films recently out but I was a bit disappointed. I thought the first problem was the cast. It was too big and didn't concentrate enough on Willis' character, and too much on Vern the tortoise. It looked really nice and there were a few chuckles (the slow mo bit was excellent), but overall it had nothing special to get me excited. 2/5 ... More

Posted by Castor Troy at 09:27, 08 July 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Over The Hedge
Very, very funny and hugely enjoyable. Certainly the best non-Shrek Dreamworks film. It's been a while since I laughed so much at the cinema, and Hammy was the main cause of this. Very similar in nature to Scrat from Ice Age and just as adorable. *Spoiler below* The scene in which Hammy takes the energy drink, and time seems to stand still, had the whole cinema in an uproar. A superb idea used to great effect ***End sp... More


Posted by Gimli The Dwarf at 06:05, 08 July 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Over The Hedge
A round of applause for dreamworks who finally manage to produce a film worthy of the adventures of a certain green ogre! The film begins with RJ(bruce willis),a raccoon, stealing the food of a hibernating bear voiced by Nick Nolte.The bear giver RJ a week to retrive the food which,by the way,has been destroyed by a truck. Meanwhile in a woodland somewhere,A group of animals led by by verne(garry shandling) are gathering food.Needless to say the group discover a hedge which they... More


Posted by G.O.B at 22:57, 07 July 2006 \| Report This Post



A pleasant suprise
Now I wasn't expecting a lot, probably because I'm more of a pixar girl, but welldone dreamworks. For me it's the best cg-animeted film they have done, yes for me it even bets Shrek. First the voice casting was mostly stop on Garry Shandling was perfect as Verne and Steve Carell was so funny as Hammy, also love William Shatner as Ozzie and Wanda Sykes as Stella. But pretty much a great job by everyone. The animation was wonderful the animals all looked great. all so cute. So it's a pretty aver... More


Posted by Tohru_Readman at 13:18, 05 July 2006 \| Report This Post



Over the moon
I saw the previews of this last weekend and wel to begin with, i was not impressed. It was given to ages for kids way younger than my age and by 15 minutes through, i was bored. But hen things started to pick up. The jokes were coming thicker and faster and it really was good. Iloved the joke about how humans are losing the ability to walk and when the television accidentally switched on with THX on. Classic. Easily the best dreamworks film since Shrek and wipes the floor with crap like Shark Ta... More


Posted by premierbaron at 19:35, 29 June 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Over The Hedge
Over the Hedge:Y contain unavoidable minor spoilers}p; &n bsp; This film takes place in the forest where many an animal lives. We see the animals as they emerge from a long wintry season and head for their food stash. Much to their surprise, there is practically no food left, thus leaving them to forage for whatever they can find. We have Verne the turtle (Garry Shandling), Hammy the squirrel (Steve Carell), Stella the skunk (Wanda Sykes), ... More


Posted by blair witch at 17:47, 27 June 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Over The Hedge
I actually broke out in a fit of laughter in the middle of the cinema when they showed the preview to this film when my girlfriend and I went to see M:I3. The part where one of the little critters jumps on the TV remote control and is blown back by the sheer power and soundscape of LucasSound's THX logo. Awesome stuff. I was still chuckling when I left for the toilet. I can't wait to watch this one. ... More

Posted by Monkey Wrench at 03:38, 27 June 2006 \| Report This Post



Over The Hedge
This film is great: beautiful animation, lovely characters and a lot of fun. There's also criticism on western consumerism, which I really like. Like in many other American cartoons, there's again a message about the importance of friendship and family, but this doesn't bother me, as some reminding is necessary in our individualistic society. No matter how old you are: Go and see 'Over The Hedge'! You'll enjoy it! ... More


Posted by Geert at 22:39, 26 June 2006 \| Report This Post

Over The HedgeAll-star furry fun

Over The Hedge
All-star furry fun