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Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

Hop

HOP (Tim Hill). 95 minutes. Opens Friday (April 1). See listing. Rating: NNNN


On paper, Hop sounds as generic as they come: E.B., the rebellious son of the Easter Bunny, rejects his birthright and runs away to Hollywood, where he befriends an underachieving human and learns the value of being true to himself in time to help his dad defeat a workplace rebellion spearheaded by a resentful chicken. Roll credits, cue the merchandising department.

All of these things do indeed happen in Hop, but they’re infused with a demented, genuinely subversive spirit that comes straight from Russell Brand, who voices E.B. It’s as if he’d run around licking everyone during pre-production until they were all infected with the same antic energy he brought to Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek.

The script is layered with solid laughs (this may be the only children’s film to include a lightning-quick reference to Roman Polanski’s rape conviction), and the casting is terrific. Brand is a manic delight as the ebullient E.B, Hugh Laurie does a fine job of stiff-upper-lip silliness as his dad, and James Marsden, as E.B.’s human buddy, commits completely to the straight-man role.

Director Tim Hill’s film credits include the first Alvin And The Chipmunks and second Garfield movie. I’m not sure how he got this one made, but whatever he had to do, it was worth it.

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