By Nicholas Proch
Despite having a complete grasp of the Aldous Snow character, from Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, Russell Brand doesn’t have a whole lot else to say for himself on his resume. Hop is another attempt by Brand at the animated feature (with his last being a smaller role in Despicable Me as Dr. Nefario).
He performed well in his first work, but it was only a supporting role. Brand lends his voice to Universal Pictures again, in his first true lead, as EB. EB is walking, talking, Kurt Cobain-inspired wardrobe wearing rabbit. And, oh yes, he’s also the son of the Easter bunny. For as cool as this role should have been, it wasn’t very fun for the audience to watch these performances.
Combining live action with animation is always a struggle, but the studio did a good job at making it look real. The real issue lies in James Marsden, the other lead role in the film. He’s supposed to play a mid-twenty year old who hasn’t flown the coop. While Matthew McConaughey made his role in Failure to Launch believable (he has a knack for playing someone who doesn’t have a purpose or future), Marsden always looks like he has his life in control, which takes away from the role.
The supporting cast, in general, isn’t great. They brought in Hank Azaria [The Simpsons, Dodgeball] to play the head of the ‘chicks’, but his role wasn’t as funny as it should have been. Even Hugh Laurie [House] gets lost as the character of the easter bunny.
It’s about 73 minutes into the 95 minute film that you can hear restlessness in the theater. There’s a point when the story stops, and I’m not sure where exactly it is (I’m not willing to re-watch it in order to find out the exact moment), but it happens and ruins the movie for most in the crowd.
The cast couldn’t support the weight of the awful script at hand. There’s some kind of rabbit lair on Easter Island? They can travel the earth through magical rabbit holes? What? It’s obvious that this movie is a fantasy, but it’s too unbelievable. The fact that David Hasselhoff isn’t shocked by the appearance of a talking bunny in his talent show auditions is bizarre.
It can’t all be bad for this fairy tale, can it? It is. Brand doesn’t have a particularly memorable performance. It doesn’t feel like his usual effort and is almost forced. James Marsden is terrible. Need I continue?
The bright spot in this film might be the end credits. They’re a relief to see. While it may be a good movie to watch when you’re babysitting your eight year old cousin, stay far away from this if you’re planning on watching this for any individual enjoyment.
