Where's that little Clown fish when you need him?

Rating: 2/10 (4 December 2006)

*1/2 out of **** stars
Over the Hedge sadly confirms my waning interest in the digital animation genre. After being enormously impressed with Shrek, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo, the films that I've since seen from Pixar and Dreamworks have had mediocre plots and trite dialouge. This movie is no exception. Over the Hedge has no sense of adventure, which I believe is a crucial element in an animated story.
After a lengthy hibernation, (only bears are supposed to hibernate, but oh well) the cute little animals simply discover - wow! - suburbia, where you'll find exciting things like SUVs, cell phones and two-story homes with identical green lawns. Let's also not forget all the awful Americans who live there. No, not one person is around with any sense of decency. The adorable creatures are more graciously human than the humans, which I suppose is a metaphor for how much people have strayed from benevolence and a sense of community. Our furry little friends are ecstatic about discovering this neighborhood because of all the processed food they find there, but the residents want them dead so they hire an exterminator, who is aptly titled "The Verminator". At numerous times the film segues from its elementary story to show us gratuitous, dizzying chase scenes that I couldn't focus on, not that I wanted to. It seemed as if the Animators created these segments to compensate for a weak script. They will certainly appeal to a kid, especially if he or she is under six and has an attention disorder.
Over the Hedge is artificially arresting. Of course it is! They all are! It seems to me the computerized craftsmanship of this genre has been set, at least for now, and no one is falling short. The voices are good also. No big surprise there. If we continue to give so many accolades to the superstar actors and musicians who speak the parts, we should also honor all the bygone men and women who were doing it decades ago, and who were just as good.
I'm not oblivious to the fact that animated movies are primarily orchestrated for children, as they should be. But this genre has proved its appeal to all ages with much better films with more depth and scope that involve jokes with double-meaning: Mom and Dad get it one way, the Kids another.
If you rent this movie one day and find yourself too busy to watch it, don't worry...press play. Feel free to leash up your dog and walk him around the block or finish up those dirty dishes at any time. Don't hit pause. Just keep it rolling. When you return to your sofa you'll fall right back into it. You won't miss a thing. Over the Hedge is so predictable, so simply formulated you can't even pride yourself in knowing what will happen next or how it will end.