Hop (2011)

Easter is just around the corner and I felt like I should post an Easter movie.  How many are there out there? I already saw Rise of the Guardians (review HERE).  Netflix had this movie sitting around and I remember seeing the first 10 minutes of it a few weeks ago at my boyfriend’s parents.  Honestly, I have zero hopes for this one and I really think it’ll turn out bad but that is what makes it perfect for a brain-dead day 😉

I always try to push away any early expectations or lack of before I see anything so lets check it out!

Director: Tim Hill

Cast: James Marsden, Russell Brand, Kaley Cuoco, Hank Azaria, Hugh Laurie, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins

Ever since he was a little bunny, EB (Russell Brand) has known that he will be the next in line to be the Easter Bunny to take over his father (Hugh Laurie). As he grows up and the time that he will take over the Egg of Destiny, he knows that he isn’t right for the job but rather he wants to be a drummer.  Not caring for the consequences of the impending Easter day in 2 weeks, he runs away to Hollywood to search for his fame.  There he meets Fred O’Hare (James Marsden) who accidentally hits EB with his car and takes him in.  Fred has no direction in his life and while helping his sister (Kaley Cuoco) house sit for her boss, he tries to get his life in order while helping EB reluctantly as they both unknowingly is searching for approval from their father in their own way. At the same time, back at the Easter Bunny headquarters, Carlos, a chick and the current Easter Bunny’s number 2 wants to take over the Easter Bunny duties.

Okay, I give up.  I don’t know how to make this sound interesting. I’m just going to leave the synopsis like that.  You get the idea, right?

Suffice to say that I didn’t really like it all that much but I didn’t particularly hate it either.  It was just pretty blah, for lack of a better word.  Now, I do have some pros I’d like to talk about before the cons. They are worth a mention and maybe what will push you to watch this.  At the same time, I think maybe kids might get some enjoyment out of it more than say, me. I like pretty childish animation but as musical as this got, it didn’t really work for me. Oh right, I’m getting carried away.

One of the biggest pros is the beauty of the animation.  C’mon! Look at that Easter factory: the vibrant colors, the details and even the animated characters were done in a rather cute way. Look at our ninja royal guards, the Pink Berets.  They actually carry a bit of the Alvin and the Chipmunks qualities, in a way. Here’s for the director who made Alvin and the Chipmunks a few years back, right? Tim Hill gets to do this plus the little one is so cute and clumsy, qualities I love in animals 😉

Another pro is James Marsden. I never quite understand why he takes on these animation crossed with real life movies.  I like it a lot usually, especially Enchanted (which I probably should review soon) and in this one, I actually liked Fred O’Hare.  James Marsden pulls the funniest facial expressions and he puts some fun into this.

I guess this makes me go to the bad part.  What really hurts this animated flick is the story.  It could because once you start the beginning narration, you already know what will happen in the end so the sense of danger never amounts to anything.  And Carlos, our supposed villain, isn’t really that threatening.  He’s actually kind of funny in a weird way but then Hank Azaria does his voice and that man is a voice genius.  And then we have Russell Brand.  I’m not a fan of him. Period. I don’t like him as an actor, or even as the voice of EB. As a voice, he was tolerable but nothing that made me feel like I liked EB very much either.

Overall, if you are watching this with kids, they might enjoy it because its not scary and it has some nice happy beats and furry animated bunnies and chicks, plus lots of candy.  However, the story does lack a bit of inspiration. Even its nice animation and James Marsden’s involvement couldn’t give it more life.  I really don’t hate it.  I’m just indifferent and I know that I probably wouldn’t watch it again.

Have you seen Hop? Do you have any movies you watch for Easter? What are your thoughts on James Marsden?

 

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Earlier this year, I wrote a review for Bad Teacher (find it HERE) and talked about how I really liked my first experience of watching Jason Segel.  Thats when my actual friend and fellow blogger, Jelliefishie, suggested that I should check out Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  I hesitated on this one a while but then after horror and action lined up, I felt like it would be good to get some comedy in, even if it included the annoying Russell Brand.  Let’s check it out!

Director: Nicholas Stoller

Cast: Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill

Struggling musician Peter (Jason Segel) gets dumped by his 5 year TV celebrity girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell).  To escape from his pains, he goes to a Hawaiian resort where he coincidentially ends up at the same time with Sarah Marshall and his new boyfriend Aldous Snow.   (Russell Brand).  As he makes friends and tries to move on, he meets the resort front desk employee, Rachel (Mila Kunis) who helps cover up and encourage him to break out of his shell and embrace life.

I had no idea what to expect from this mostly because Jelliefishie recommends awkward humor movies.  Last time was The House Bunny which I grew to like a lot.  Funny enough, when Forgetting Sarah Marshall started, I had that feeling.  I should mention that I watched the Unrated version, since Rotten Tomatoes seem to view it as two different films.  Anyways, as the movie progressed, it actually had a lot of really funny moments and turned into a nice balance between romance and comedy.  I ended up having a really good time with this.

Jason Segel is a pretty awesome actor.  He has this silly adorable vibe.  Sometimes, thats just the charm that brings out the right level of not too sappy romance.  Maybe he was a tad overexaggerated, (or do guys that break up really act that way?) and in this unrated version, we saw him fully naked.  Did they do that in the original theatrical version? Either way, he had great chemistry with Mila Kunis.  On that note, I have seen Mila Kunis a few times in movies.  She’s actually a pretty fun actress and in this one, even I thought she had really nice style.

On the other side, Kristen Bell fit right into the role of the crazy ex girlfriend who is super full of themselves matched with the very well-deserved (still annoying) boyfriend in the form of Russell Brand.  Honestly, I don’t like him anymore after this.  I walked away halfway through one of the scenes because it was just ridiculous… That was the only downside for me.  I can see how if that type of humor was your type of thing then he was supposed to be the comedic relief.  I found many other parts funnier.   However, in the parts with him and Jonah Hill (as the waiter), those scenes were pretty epic.

Jelliefishie definitely gave me a decent recommendation.  Will it be my fave comedy? Probably not but it sure was fun! It was what I needed to lighten my mood. It had a good amount of hilarious moments, a solid cast with Jason Segel, Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell and a great supporting cast with Jonah Hill and even a cameo with Kristen Wiig.  Plus, the girls had a beautiful wardrobe and even I started wondering, how can I get Kristen Bell’s core… That aside, c’mon its in HAWAII! Who is in for a vacation Hawaii? I know I’d go in a heartbeat (if I had the money)!

I talked about Jason Segel before.  What do you think of Russell Brand? Are you into his comedy style? How about the two beautiful girls in this: Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell? Do you like them? Any notable performances that come to mind? Did you see this flick? Love to hear your thoughts 🙂

Remember to go check out Jelliefishie’s awesome blog! She’s very artistic and take awesome photos and she writes awesome stuff, even recently dipping into the world of movie reviews 🙂 I linked her up on top!