BIG SCREEN: Hop Revieux (Rated PG)

What is the Easter Bunny’s deal? I mean, has anyone ever really asked? We know where Santa lives and how he operates, but the Big Bunny? Total mystery. Hop endeavors to educate us on the subject.

So, the Easter Bunny (voiced by Hugh Laurie) lives on Easter Island (yikes, of leper colony fame? Oh, well -- I guess what the kids don’t know… right?) with his teenage son, E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand), who would rather play drums than inherit the family business. When his dad starts pushing for the succession, E.B. runs away to Hollywood to seek his fame and fortune. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with a human (James Marsden), who’s at odds with his own father. Despite earning a little attention with his drumming skills, E.B. has to reevaluate his priorities when his dad is overthrown by his bitter right hand man, Carlos, a fuzzy yellow chick with a Spanish accent (voiced by Hank Azaria, of course!).

Azaria is a total scream as the “Latino chick”, but this is obviously comedian Russell Brand’s show. Let’s talk about Russell Brand, shall we? You either love him or hate him. I happen to love him to bits. Lanky and spastic and sort of naughty—what’s not to love? Sort of describes many of our own kids, right? So, in that respect, I imagined he’d be perfect for a voice-over role in a kids’ movie.

The problem—though “problem” is a strong word—is that the dialogue was obviously written to suit Brand’s brand of humor. The rapid-fire, British clever-speak is amusing to an adult’s trained ear, but it flies right over little kids’ heads. As does the hilarity that lies within Azaria's performance. Nuance is not a very kid-friendly concept. It certainly didn’t ruin the movie – it’s still cute and creative and fun to look at – but, without a direct-connect with much of the comedic element of the movie, the littler kids (we watched with a group of 5-year-olds) get a little antsy towards the latter part of the movie. You could definitely tell it was made by some of the same folks that did Despicable Me and Alvin & the Chipmunks--but a little less silly and fewer quotable one-liners.

Certainly worth the price of admission, though I’m not sure this is destined to become a holiday classic. I guess time will tell.

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