Hop, a film that should have been released closer to the holiday mentioned throughout the film, had no point of existing. It’s a film that was made to market the plush toys and figurines of the adorable characters who wouldn’t have been around had it not been for the ridiculous story of E.B. (voiced by comedian Russell Brand) who, after twenty years from when he was ecstatic to be the future Easter Bunny, he decides to be a drummer hoping for fame and to travel the world with a band. The former Easter Bunny (voiced by House M.D.’s Hugh Laurie) doesn’t want his son to live his dream and wants him to continue with the tradition of delivering eggs and candy to all of the kids of the world. With a magical transportation rabbit hole, E.B. whisks himself off to Hollywood where he later meets with another slacker Fred O’Hare (James Marsden) after almost getting hit by his car.
Back at home on Easter Island, Carlos (voiced by Hank Azaria), second-in-command of working in the Easter Factory, has ulterior motives to becomes the new symbol of Easter by gaining the Egg of Destiny that is said to hold great power that’s enough for a rabbit but not for anyone else. The three bunny brigade known as the Pink Berets are sent to find E.B. while Fred helps the British bunny while making sure that no one knows that he talks, providing him a place to crash (his older sister Sam’s (Kaley Cuoco) boss’s mansion) and to score a job all at the same time. Oh and in case you don't remember Fred telling E.B. about Sam being single and wanting a rabbit? If you didn't get the sexual innuendo, that means you're more mature than what the writers were going for when creating the 'joke'.
The film, while it has a few laughable moments, is downright insulting. The younger member of Fred’s family is found to have only been adopted just to make the family name look good even if her singing isn’t the best. Second, besides the Resurrection of Christ and the occasional Easter egg hunts, the holiday doesn’t lead itself to a film sounding reminiscent to Disney’s Santa Clause series minus divorce, remarriage to keep the job of being the holiday idol, and more. From the trailers, the joke about E.B.’s special gift, besides playing the drums, is kept. That’s what happens when some of the humor leans on the childish side due to the film being directed by Tim Hill who also directed Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) .
Unlike Scream 4, which was so ridiculous and hilarious that, even ad a bad movie, is one that can be seen again and again, this film doesn’t rise to this level. While the animation’s beautiful, especially when seeing the Easter Factory, and cute, the script should have went through many, MANY rewrites. The film reeks of being another tale of the lead character doing what he can to impress his family/single parent to prove that he/she’s not an embarrassment or the Black Sheep. The film can also be seen, in one scene, as a window into Russell Brand’s career where his film career could he heading downward. He might be remembered for taking the entertainment world by storm due to his life story and marrying singer Katy Perry, but the film makes him a big joke. With the movie released on April 1st, Universal had the last laugh adding insult to injury.
Final rating for Hop: One star out of four.
About the animation in regards to the animals: Darn you animators for making the rabbits so adorable to buy to add to children’s plush toy collections!
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