Unlike Halloween and Christmas, there aren’t many movies about Easter. Well hold on to your bunny ears ladies and gentlemen, because here comes “Hop”!!
The Easter Bunny (voiced by Hugh Laurie) is about to retire. His son E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) is set to take over. However, E.B. has no desire to take over for his father. See, E.B. has a dream…he wants to be a drummer!! He practices drumming in his room on Easter Island, which is where Easter treats are made (think of it like Santa’s toy shop, only instead of toys, there is candy, and instead of elves, there are chicks. They even have a flying sleigh, pulled by chicks!!).
To follow his dream, E.B. runs away from Easter Island and straight to Hollywood. His first stop?? After consulting his Map to the Stars and Crime Scenes, he heads for the Playboy Mansion (bunnies, get it??). Unfortunately, he’s not allowed past the gates, and he begins to get a little discouraged.
Now, let’s meet Fred O’Hare (James Marsden). Fred is unemployed and living back at his family’s house. His parents (Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins) and sisters Sam (Kaley Cuoco) and Alex (Tiffany Espensen) (who claims that she was adopted by Fred’s parents because Fred was such a disappointment) stage an intervention, where they tell Fred he has to get a job and his own apartment. Fred is depressed and leaves to go sleep in his car. Sam takes pity on him, and offers him the keys to the house where she is supposed to house-sit, because she is afraid of the big dogs that live there. She also gives him a lead on a possible job. So Fred heads to the house, oh excuse me, ginormous mansion. Once he gets on the property though, he accidentally hits a bunny with his car. Guess who that might be?? Yes, E.B.!!
After the unfortunate bunny-hitting incident, Fred flashes back to when he was younger, when he saw the Easter Bunny delivering Easter baskets and chocolates to his house. That’s when he realizes, the Easter Bunny is real, and this is him!! Once E.B. shares his dream with Fred, Fred agrees to help E.B. audition for a talent show.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Carlos (voiced by Hank Azaria) is the Easter Bunny’s most trusted advisor. However, he is tired of bunnies ruling Easter. He plots to overthrow the Easter Bunny and hopes that E.B. never comes back. Then the world will meet The Easter Chick!! Unaware of the treachery, the Easter Bunny has dispatched the Pink Berets, a trio of fierce (mostly, two were fierce, one was a little slow) female bunnies tasked with finding E.B.. They have lots of fancy gadgets and mad ninja skills.
Will Easter be saved?? Will E.B. return to Easter Island?? Will Fred ever make his parents proud?? Go see “Hop” and find out!!!
One thing I did notice that I found strange was that nobody (except for Fred) found a talking bunny unusual. But hey, they WERE in Hollywood.
I was pleased that not all of the funny parts of “Hop” were in the previews. I was also glad that it escaped the dreaded current “Everything Must Be in 3-D” fad. The animation was seamlessly blended with the live-action, and the story was well-written and flowed well. For the “Despicable Me” fans, minions do make a brief appearance. Also, don’t leave when the credits begin to roll because there is a scene after the credits.
“Hop” is a great family flick, appropriate for the kids with enough humor, pop culture references and cameo appearances for the grown-ups (or those masquerading as grown-ups). A very funny, egg-cellent movie.
