Hop stars Russel Brand and James Marsden in a feel good takeoff from The Santa Claus where a human gets to become the Easter Bunny even though the traditional role is usually filled by a rabbit.
Film making 14/25
Video 18/25
Audio 18/25
Bonus Features 10/25
Total 60/100
Take a rabbit slated to follow in his father’s footsteps to become the next Easter Bunny who only wants to play drums and a human who is directionless in life. Russell Brand plays EB, the son of the current Easter Bunny who really only wants to play the drums but is supposed to replace his father when the time comes.
Problem is he doesn’t want to become the Easter Bunny so he takes off to find his own way in Hollywood where he meets Fred O’Hare played by James Marsden. Fred is out of work and does not have many prospects for a new job so he is looking after a house his sister is watching for her boss.
When Fred is on his way to the house he almost runs over EB who feigns injuries to get taken into the house so he can have a cushy place to stay. Fred takes him in and after the short initial surprise at a talking rabbit they work at getting the Pink Berets off EB’s tail.
The Easter Bunny sends his best operatives, the Pink Berets, after his son to drag him back to Easter Island, the Easter Bunny headquarters. Fred helps EB stay away from the Pink Berets, three cute but tough bunnies with skills, but the main problem is back on Easter Island.
Carlos is a long time employee of the Easter Bunny, an old chick who has a grudge about never getting promoted past assistant to the Easter Bunny. Carlos wants to take over as Easter Bunny but when Fred stops him the Easter Bunny appoints both Fred and EB as his replacements.
Hop is too much like various Christmas and Santa Claus flicks with the Easter Bunny using a sleigh much like Santa uses but the problems do not end there. Despicable Me and Madagascar has things practically stolen but The Santa Clause gets a lot of robbery performed on it from Hop as well.
The film outright takes scenes and ideas from several movies which may be a bit of a downer but overall the film is not a total loss. Kids should enjoy the hijinks of a rabbit who can talk trying to shrug his duties of being the Easter Bunny off on someone else while he just wants to rock.
Hop looks pretty good and the Blu-ray edition does take some getting used to as the video did not work out well for the transfer to the BLu-ray format. A few scenes have noticeable effects and grain where others are clear and good looking so sometimes enjoyment of the actual content is hindered.
Audio works out much better than video with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track but not as good as it could have been especially since we have a lot of music to go along with the action. A few scenes add a little odd voice definition or misdirection while watching the film with a full surround sound system so audio is not all perfect.
Surround works well with some good use of rear speakers and bass but the odd voice for a couple of the actors make a few scenes sound funny. The problem voices just sounded like they used a clear studio to tape the voice and then improperly mixed it into the scene.
Although not a large problem I did notice it a few times so audio was lacking in an overall quality which was noticeable a few times and detracted from the film. Bonus content was fairly good but rather short given the fact that this is a CG film mixed with real world and was probably filming for a year or more.
Bonus features are all short and not very good but there is enough to get a few good laughs for kids at the least so there is some here for extras. Hop does drop the ball in more ways than one but kids should at least get a kick out of the Easter Bunny tale.
Hop may not be worth much for adults but kids should have a fun time watching this film so it should make a great Easter gift for a few good laughs.
Hop Website
