Dreamworks #12: Over the Hedge

Over the Hedge - 7.7/10

Heads up: didn’t mean to when I started, but this one turned out a little spoiler-y.

I first saw this back when it came out on video, when I was working in the after-school program. Before I watched it I thought it looked like another cash-in attempt at a crowd pleaser like Shark Tale, but what I thought afterwards I couldn’t tell you because I honestly don’t remember, nor did I remember really anything about the movie itself or what it was about save some animals in a suburb trying to get food.

Naturally, for something so apparently non-memorable, I didn’t have particularly high hopes going in this time. As it turns out, I must have just not been paying much attention last time because this was actually pretty good.

Okay, it’s not brilliant, but it does well in what it sets out to do, which is to entertain. Once again we’re looking at the human world through animal perspectives, but unlike Madagascar, the protagonists this time do recognize the separation. In fact, it’s funny to imagine how animals – particularly in a suburban setting like this – must view us. For creatures whose very survival hangs in the balance every day based on how much they can find to eat, our somewhat cavalier attitude towards food and the myriad ways we obtain and distribute it must seem almost alien. There’s a montage where RJ (the raccoon character) explains every aspect of human life and how it all revolves around food. Amusing, and embarrassingly accurate. 

It’s perhaps not surprising then that the plot revolves around the animals’ attempts to steal food from their human neighbors who live over the hedge (through it, rather) that wasn’t there when they went to sleep in the fall and has suddenly appeared along with a strange new world beyond it in the spring. The aforementioned raccoon is the newcomer (and guide to the human world) to the group that also contains a skunk, a family of porcupines, a father-daughter possum duo, a hyperactive squirrel, and an overly cautious turtle patriarch. They make a nice family, but it’s kind of soured by the ever-present liar reveal plot. Spoiler: the raccoon has ulterior motives. Gasp! Maybe it’s a cynical thing to say, but I couldn’t enjoy the movie as much as I wanted to because I kept waiting for that awkward, inevitable moment where the truth would come out, they’d all feel betrayed, he’d feel horrible, yadda yadda yadda.

Crazy thing is, when they moment actually came, it was well done. They didn’t just feel betrayed, they were crushed, and you could see it. Also the vocal performances carried it really well too. Plus there’s the bit where the homicidal bear who put RJ in his fix in the first place basically says to him, “Damn, that’s cold,” of course making him feel even worse than he already does. The mad chase scene and ensuing climax that follows is both exciting and funny, and what we’re left with at the end is – while not sniffle-inducing by any means – mildly heartwarming and just…nice. 

Hands down though, the best joke in the movie: preparing for a massive food raid, RJ has constructed a diorama of the yard they must infiltrate. This is his intro, complete with lots of pointing: “There are traps here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here…” you get the idea. It just keeps going and I couldn’t stop laughing. Can’t say I didn’t enjoy myself.