Over the Hedge

It is ironic that a film which lampoons the human habit of excessive consumption has itself spawned a whole range of tie-in merchandise. Like every other children’s film that hits the multiplex, Over the Hedge is sure to have an assortment of collectible figures, colouring books and backpacks for sale. Because whether it’s our stomachs or our cupboards we never seem to have enough…

Based on the long-running and beloved US comic strip, Over the Hedge depicts the consequences when bushland becomes suburbia.

An eclectic group of woodland creatures, led by Verne the turtle, waken after a long winter to find their habitat radically altered. What used to be a considerably large forest has been curtailed by an enormous hedge. On their side is a tiny version of what once was. On the other, a sprawling suburb of McMansions and four wheel drives.

While the hedge terrifies the creatures with its strangeness their real problem is more dire. Their food source has been almost eradicated. The woods in which they gathered food has been replaced with lawn, driveways and water features.

Enter RJ, a fast talking racoon voiced by Bruce Willis. He convinces the wary creatures to venture beyond the hedge and relieve the gluttonous humans of some of their extra food. As he indicates, animals eat to live, humans live to eat.

What RJ has omitted to tell his new friends is that unless he comes up with a trailer load of junk food by the week’s end he is going to be, well, eaten by a rather foreboding looking bear.

Over the Hedge is a Dreamworks production and demonstrates a remarkable leap in their quality of animation. The animals, of course, are gorgeous and cuddly looking and even the humans seem fluid and lifelike. Technically it seems Dreamworks has almost caught up to the benchmark set by Pixar. As for the story – it’s fairly thin and the humour is pretty shallow (burping and toilet humour), it’s likely the kids will enjoy themselves.

While the film raises the notion of human greed it is not so wedded to the idea of satire and social commentary to really make the point. Still it’s something worth chewing over with the kids – better that than a giant box of cinema popcorn.

Latest articles in watching
- The Wager - 2 weeks, 3 days ago
- Packed to the Rafters - 3 weeks, 3 days ago
- Burn After Reading - 1 month ago