I saw it tonight, and it’s great. It’s very funny, with millions of hysterical gags and cultural references, and great voice performances by Bruce Willis, William Shatner, and (especially) Steve Carrell. Shatner does a wonderful send up of his own overacting, and the character animation is just hilarious. The pace and timing are just perfect, and the funniness keeps building to the end.
Now, I’m 0 for 2 this year, because I thought that V for Vendetta and Poseidon would be very popular. But everyone else in the screening was laughing pretty hard, too, so I think I may be right this time. In fact, I want to go back and see it again. It’s just that good, and there are so many gags, I’m sure I missed some the first time through.
I wish they had done this one in IMAX 3D, instead of Poseidon (which was 2D, not 3D).
BTW, if you go, stay to the very end of the credits for funny stuff in the credits and a final gag after they’re done.
Did your theater have a sneak preview or something? Everything I can find says it doesn’t open until Friday.
I’ll be seeing it this weekend with my teenage daughter, who wanted to take me to lunch and a movie for Mother’s Day, but we couldn’t do it last week because of scheduling problems.
Couldn’t say, since I’d never seen the strip before now. The lead characters and the overall theme (wild animals vs. suburban humans) seem to be the same. An OTH (strip) fan will have to report in after seeing the film.
I don’t think we ever stopped laughing. It was a mixed audience of adults and kids. The kids were very entertained so there was no extraneous talking, food throwing or chair kicking. The adults were also quite entertained.
We just went and saw it and had a blast. It was very funny!
I loved that it had real, actual humor. They didn’t depend on gross-out gags, pop-culture references, or innuendo for laughs. They just had good jokes. It’s a movie you can let your little kids watch, and truly enjoy yourself. I love that.
I don’t know where in Florida you are, but I saw the movie in a Pensacola theater last night and it was pretty much the way you describe! Mixed audience, everyone thorougly enjoying the film–it was great!
This one had me curious, since I can find no other reference to this. Did any of the showings of Over the Hedge feature the Dreamworks short First Flight? And if so, what is the “what looks like an incredibly crude sight gag that will mercifully go over kids’ heads, but may leave adults rubbing their eyes wondering if they just saw what they thought they saw” referred to by one Catholic reviewer?
I saw the short with the film and didn’t notice anything shocking. I’m not easily shocked, or anything, but still.
As for the film, I was a bit let down. It had some funny scenes, and was certainly better than The Wild (which is the worst movie I’ve seen in years, kid film or not), but I expected a lot more.
I’ll tell you that I was enjoying the music without even knowing who it was! We stayed for the credits, as per the OP, and it wasn’t until the credits ran that I knew it was Ben Folds. If you’re a fan, the soundtrack is almost definitely worth buying!
Thank you. Thank you for nothing. Because of your reviews here, I went to see it today. Nobody in the theater laughed once. I didn’t. Starship Earth was better.
Due to “word of mouth”, we saw it the other night.
Egh. Not actually bad, but certainly there were other things we would have rather seen instead. Not even as good as Ice Age 2 (and that’s not saying a lot).
The critics are right about this one.
Gary Shandling and Bruce Willis should not be doing voice work.
My roommate and his girlfriend absolutely loved it, so I’ll see it eventually. They came home raving, saying it would have been worth it even if movie tickets were $20 each. (They NEVER say anything like that.) Then again, if it was a live-action movie featuring Bruce Willis, Steve Carell, William Shatner, and music by Ben Folds, nothing would keep me away either.
Other than Hammy the Squirrel (shooting CheezWhiz out of both nostrils; getting his first taste of caffeine; uttering his winsome, plaintive refrain, “…but I like the cookie!”), I was underwhelmed. My boys (9 and 6) liked it more than I did; no surprise there.
I saw it over the weekend with the kids. I was dubious going in to the theater since I generally loathe Dreamworks, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was mercifully free of the snark and the non-stop pop-cultural references that made Shrek and Shrek 2 so painful to watch.
Unfortunately the characters were a little weak. I never really fell in love with them. It’s not a bad movie. But it’s not a great movie either.
However, there was one moment that was absolutely sublime: When Hammy drinks the energy drink. The zen-like calm that settles over him as he wanders casually through the time-stopped backyard was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a movie all year.
That, and watching the laser beams slowly crawl out across the trap area. Yes, I know it’s impossible, and the way they presented it, it was obvious the filmmakers knew, too. The point was, it was funny. Between that and the Peltinator 3000 manifesting as a supernova, I have to wonder if they had a science advisor for the jokes.
It wasn’t a capitalized Great, Dramatic Movie Experience, or anything, but it was funny. I don’t think it would have been worth $20, but it was certainly worth $5.50.
