The British Bunny: Christmas Again?

jonnyhavey

Movies have been used to publicize many holidays throughout the years; however, there has not been a film that has displayed Easter in such a Hollywoodized way until now. "Hop" has transformed Easter into the new Christmas, drawing masses of families into the theaters. However, while the film was a success at the box office being named the first blockbuster of the summer, the film has much to be desired. Russel Brand ("Get Him to the Greek") stars as a rabbit named E.B. who is destined to take the place of his dad (High Laurie, "House") as the Easter Bunny. As the Easter Bunny, E.B. would be taking over control of Easter Island where chicks prepare Easter eggs and luscious candy delights for the Easter Holiday every year—sound familiar (elves making toys for Christmas). However, E.B. has a different idea about what his future has in store. To avoid his destiny, E.B. leaves Easter Island two weeks before his coronation on Easter day through a rabbit hole to Hollywood. After a misunderstanding at the Playboy Mansion, E.B. meets disappointment Fred O'Hare (catchy name) who has failed to live up to his father's (Gary Cole, "Talladega Night") expectations. However, Fred's life is turned around after he meets E.B., allowing him to realize his life long dream of becoming the Easter Bunny. However, before this realization can be made a reality, Fred and E.B. must stop the evil plot of the head chick at the factory, Carlos (Hank Azaria, "Love and Other Drugs") that would change Easter forever.

The only thing that "Hop" is successful at is targeting children. It provides this audience exactly what they would want out of a family-safe Easter film. Everything about the film is harmless and cliché within its kid friendly genre, ultimately pleasing parents, who do not have to worry about what their kids see. However, from a critical standpoint the only character that is somewhat worth following is E.B. Lets face it, you do not see many British bunnies that sound like Russel Brand every day.

The truth is that even though "Hop" may be the best film in theaters for kids to see, it has no excuse to totally disregard originality. Even though not many films about Easter are ever seen in theaters, "Hop" seems like just another Christmas film shot during the spring season. Every plot line and twist can be taken lightly because believe it or not it has all been done before. The jumbling of so many cliché plot lines makes the story random and by the end none of the film was fully developed. Also, the acting in the film is horridly hokey except for various Russel Brand moments. Even so, Brand was a very awkward choice for his role because he is the only bunny with a British accent. The clumsiness of the casting does not stop there with the evil chick Carlos (Hank Azaria, "Love and Other Drugs") being the only Hispanic chick in the movie.

The story is very plain mixing "The Santa Clause" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks" with an Easter shell. This makes "Hop" nothing more than a kid-pleasing flick that will make you wonder if Christmas came early this year.

score 2/10

jonnyhavey 6 April 2011

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2409759/