By Edgar Lopez
Although the animated film “Hop” fails to target a specific audience, wise-cracking jokes managed to cover a not-so-hidden derogatory message.
The Easter-based film was directed by Tim Hill, starring Russel Brand as E.B. and James Marsden as Fred O’ Hare.
A well-known voice actor, who played the villain Carlos, was Hank Azaria, who voices many characters in “The Simpsons.”
E.B. is the Easter bunny’s son and the film revolves around his journey to become famous as a drummer.
His father disapproves of his dream and believes it is a hobby.
He wants E.B. to become the heir to the Easter Bunny legacy, which runs in their family.
With a different dream in mind, E.B. runs away from home and heads to Hollywood.
While E.B. is hopping around, Fred, a human, has the same problems with his own father.
Fred is jobless because no job suits him, but his father pressures him constantly and looks down on him because he does not put as much effort as his sisters do.
The oldest of the sisters, Sam O’Hare, played by Kaley Cuoco, had a housekeeping job, which she passed down to Fred.
The place is at a mansion where E.B. and Fred meet, after Fred accidentally hits him with his car.
Although E.B. causes many problems for Fred, they become better friends as Fred tries to help E.B. with his dream.
While E.B. chases his dream, the Pink Berets, a threesome of highly-trained, almost killer-like, rabbits of the Royal guard, chase him down to return him to Easter Island, where the Easter Kingdom stands.
After some confusion, the Pink Berets kidnap Fred and bring him to Easter Island.
E.B. seeks out to help Fred.
E.B., Fred and the Easter bunny king face a rebellion against the Easter chick army led by Carlos, the villain chick, as he took over the Easter factory.
This is perhaps where the film reveals the derogatory role-playing.
Carlos has a thick Spanish accent while E.B. and his father have British accents.
In the end, Carlos and his chicks are not banished, but rather used as reindeer to pull the Easter sleigh, which is offensive and degrading.
It makes it seem as if the Spanish or Latin descant minorities only cause trouble or are only good for labor.
If this aspect was ignored, the film would have an okay standing but muddy paws marked it up.
Its jokes are not suited for children despite the film appears childish.
However, the jokes are not mature enough.
They lie somewhere in the middle-of-nowhere.
Children were quiet in the theaters because the language and knowledge required to enjoy the comedy were too high, but they were too low for adults.
Teenagers cannot enjoy the comedy, as they only seem to be entertained by dirty sex jokes.
Although the jokes were unfit for any audience, the characters were a big hit.
One great supporting character is Phil, a helper of Carlos, whose voice is also done by Azaria.
His bulgy eyes and dance moves made everyone laugh.
“Hop” has a generic story line with a playful twist which can be enjoyed by some, but not by most.
“Hop” does not deserve an hour and 31 minutes of your time.