Fun when it wants to be, boring when it wants to deliver a message, Over the Hedge is no Madagascar, but is better than previous animated films

Rating: 7/10 (8 June 2006)

Dreamworks, the anti-Disney, is a hit-miss animation company that sometimes delivers few of among the best animated films, but sometimes also flounder by delivering some stinkers. Shrek and Madagascar were excellent animated films that deserve to be in every large "best animated movies" list. But, there are also disasters like Shark Tale and also the disappointing Shrek 2. Over the Hedge is not a classic by any means, but it is entertaining enough to keep you awake throughout the short 83 minutes. The voice talent was all there, the writing was there, but the pacing kind of ruins it for a short time. Unfortunately, the sentimental value has to always be thrown in, and the movie totally slows down during those sappy, slow, unhappy moments. But, when a chase scene arrives, prepared to be dazzled and very amused. Thank goodness the third act picks up the tempo as it lifts the film from total mediocrity and dissatisfaction into a nice, charming film that is worthy of watching more than once.
Over the Hedge is about a mischievous raccoon named RJ that gets caught trying to steal food from an angry bear, and has a few days to come up with all the food after it all gets destroyed. In the meantime, animals that woke up from hibernation wake up to discover that most of their forest had been turned into a neighborhood. RJ tries to lure the dumbfounded animals into getting all the food he needs, but paranoid turtle named Verne and some surprising circumstances get in the way. A little-known fact about the movie is that it is actually based off a comic strip of the same name.
Kind of like what happened with Madagascar, the writing team didn't have to work much on the dialogue, since most of the humor is visual. Either way, they try to sneak by with a few one-liners here and there. Unlike Madagascar ("Well this sucks") the one-liners tend to fall flat. Also, the low points of the movie all happen in the first two acts, when they were just conversing, when the possums were not being funny, or when the themes and sad moments occur, which there unusually plenty of in the first half. Most of the laughs in the first half came from the squirrel Hammy, which actually wasn't as funny as the hyperactive squirrel Twitchy in the surprisingly funny Hoodwinked.
The action and the laughs totally come rolling in when the final act comes in, and the climax rapidly approaches. Almost every character has their moment to shine and deliver humorous moments, even the dry-witted, almost totally boring turtle. The action/chase sequences are well done, well choreographed, as they showcase moments that you really would never expect from any kind of movie. The voice talent finally flexes its acting and hilarity muscles in the final twenty minutes. Also towards the end we see Hammy at his fastest, and that most certainly was a delight. There is an underlying subliminal message in Over the Hedge, and it deals with America's obsession with food, big cars, and never-ending urge to fulfill its desires.
Bottom Line: Decent, but really gets good towards the end, which is quite the opposite from the typical summer movie, in which the ending usually falls kind of flat. While it is no Madagascar from the year before, it is still much better than Blue Sky's latest effort, Ice Age 2, and way better than Disney's previous effort, Chicken Little. Excellent casting here, even though they truly do not show their stuff until much later in the film, especially Allison Janney as the stereotypical angry, workaholic single woman. If you can sit through some of the boredom in the beginning the payoff will be sweet as we see one fun sequence after the other, ranging from a dog chasing some of the animals to modern-day-usually awful drive gone totally wrong. Dreamworks is heading in the right direction with back-to-back decent flicks. Over the Hedge: over-the-top, and out-of-control, when it wants to be.