First question: hasn't this movie been done before?! Whilst watching the 3D animation by Canadian director Peter Leponitis, I couldn't shake the fact that The Nut Job bares an uncanny resemblance in storyline to 2006's Over The Hedge.
Cute little animals with huge cartoon eyes and even bigger teeth on a seemingly impossible mission to get food for the winter? The leader of the gang of woodland creatures is trying to redeem himself to the rest of the group? Oh, it's about a racoon, a squirrel, a dog and some other not-so-important animals? And they're all voiced by actors who really shouldn't be associating themselves with such twaddle? Yeah, they're definitely the same movie.
The similarities were so painstakingly obvious that I did a little digging and actually found that both films were written by the same screenwriter. Did they really think they could churn out the same drivel and get away with it?
Okay, that sounds a little harsh, Over The Hedge was actually a good watch if you were in the mood for something simple. It genuinely made me laugh and the animals were pretty darn cute. But if you're going to recreate the same content and not actually declare you're doing so, you have to make sure that it's ten times better than the first. Unfortunately for writer of both, Lorne Cameron, The Nut Job is ten times worse. (Hard to believe the same man did work on Brother Bear).
Now, by no means am I an animation basher. I'm actually very fond of the genre and go into most cartoons with a very open mind! But when the standard has been set so high over the past year by films such as The Croods and How To Train Your Dragon 2 where it's so evident that it's been beautifully written and even more meticulously brought to life, it's hard to forgive rubbish like this.
The gags are babyish, the characters are downright annoying and the plot been done before so there's not really any reason to spend a pricey amount on a cinema ticket for this one. Plus, they overly use Psy's 'Gangnam Style' so there's another reason to steer clear. My 2.5 rating comes purely from respect to the actors who lend their voices to the animals in this movie, even though creators could have easily kept the budget down and the film would have had the exact same impact. I did however, enjoy Liam Neeson as the gruffly-voiced racoon.
If you can get over the annoyingly bright hue of colours used in the film, then the animation is actually quite impressive and possibly one of the only stand-out positives of the movie. But sadly, that is it's only saving grace, so save yourself the trouble and pull out your dusty Over The Hedge DVD instead. Children may enjoy this but if you're older than 10, just don't bother.
Cute little animals with huge cartoon eyes and even bigger teeth on a seemingly impossible mission to get food for the winter? The leader of the gang of woodland creatures is trying to redeem himself to the rest of the group? Oh, it's about a racoon, a squirrel, a dog and some other not-so-important animals? And they're all voiced by actors who really shouldn't be associating themselves with such twaddle? Yeah, they're definitely the same movie.
The similarities were so painstakingly obvious that I did a little digging and actually found that both films were written by the same screenwriter. Did they really think they could churn out the same drivel and get away with it?
Okay, that sounds a little harsh, Over The Hedge was actually a good watch if you were in the mood for something simple. It genuinely made me laugh and the animals were pretty darn cute. But if you're going to recreate the same content and not actually declare you're doing so, you have to make sure that it's ten times better than the first. Unfortunately for writer of both, Lorne Cameron, The Nut Job is ten times worse. (Hard to believe the same man did work on Brother Bear).
Now, by no means am I an animation basher. I'm actually very fond of the genre and go into most cartoons with a very open mind! But when the standard has been set so high over the past year by films such as The Croods and How To Train Your Dragon 2 where it's so evident that it's been beautifully written and even more meticulously brought to life, it's hard to forgive rubbish like this.
The gags are babyish, the characters are downright annoying and the plot been done before so there's not really any reason to spend a pricey amount on a cinema ticket for this one. Plus, they overly use Psy's 'Gangnam Style' so there's another reason to steer clear. My 2.5 rating comes purely from respect to the actors who lend their voices to the animals in this movie, even though creators could have easily kept the budget down and the film would have had the exact same impact. I did however, enjoy Liam Neeson as the gruffly-voiced racoon.
If you can get over the annoyingly bright hue of colours used in the film, then the animation is actually quite impressive and possibly one of the only stand-out positives of the movie. But sadly, that is it's only saving grace, so save yourself the trouble and pull out your dusty Over The Hedge DVD instead. Children may enjoy this but if you're older than 10, just don't bother.
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