This was my second viewing of Hop (both times with my daughter Sophia), and I enjoyed it even more the second time around. As far as family friendly, seasonal holiday movies go, this one is up there close to Elf, although not quite as high up as Groundhog Day.
It's a story of living up to (or breaking free from) the expectations of one's father, be he jerkish human or the one-and-only Easter Bunny. It's told in a mostly live action film, with heavy use of integrated CG for the Easter Island inhabitants (bunnies and chicks) and the wonderful candy factory.
All the reasons that this sort of movie usually annoy the heck out of me were happily absent. The main actor (James Marsden, aka Cyclops, aka Liz Lemon's boyfriend) was goofy and charming, and pulled off the grown-up kid bit in a way that at no point made me want to punch him. The main CG character was funny, non-insane, and well-voiced. The CG in general was solid. Not flawless, but solid.
Not much else to report - good story, a few fun cameos, a nice job by all supporting actors. No major black marks.
About half an hour after finishing Hop, Soph had given herself a pom-pom tail (taped to her pants), some paper buck teeth, a paper carrot, a paper Easter basket (strangely enough, no paper ears), and was leading us through a paper Easter egg hunt around the apartment. She also wanted to start playing the drums. It's hard not to let this kind of enthusiasm affect the movie's score, so she probably bumped it up a half or a whole star.
Fun movie fact: I plan on leveraging Sophie's interest in E.B.'s drumming into a perfectly valid reason to buy Rock Band.
Modifiers: none
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
1 comment:
I loved this movie! That candy factory alone was worth the price of admission. It was the perfect movie for a sickie to watch, thanks!
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